Pegcetacoplan Approval a “Dream Come True” for Patients With Geographic Atrophy, Says Dr Eleonora Lad

Pegcetacoplan was approved by the FDA to treat geographic atrophy (GA), providing a treatment option for patients who previously had none, explained Eleonora Lad, MD, PhD, associate professor of ophthalmology, Duke University.

The drug was approved by the FDA on February 17 ahead of the decision date, which was February 28. Lad presented the 2-year results of pegcetacoplan from the DERBY and OAKS trials earlier in February at the Angiogenesis, Exudation, and Degeneration 2023 meeting. She explained then that the drug’s effect to slow disease progression increases over time as patients take the drug for longer.

Transcript

Geographic atrophy is a huge clinical unmet need that has had no answers in the past, we've had no previously approved options. Speaking to the experience of a patient living with geographic atrophy, I can tell you, it's really debilitating when it becomes severe. I had a patient the other day, they told me, “I would walk to the end of the world to get any information about trials or any way to get help.” Not even a treatment, but anything in the pipeline. So, for this type of patient—and there are many—any approved treatment is a dream come true.

Now that we have this approval, it's the beginning of a treatment of a major disease. We didn't have this option the past, and we're very grateful. It's a really exciting first treatment for geographic atrophy, a really exciting time for drying [age-related macular degeneration] as a space. And I'm looking forward to beginning the treatment of GA patients in the future.

This will give the patient's renewed hope that they'll be able to do everything they enjoy doing, see their family members, and live a fulfilling life.