With no treatment options currently available for geographic atrophy (GA), an advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), pegcetacoplan could fill a huge unmet need, explained Eleonora Lad, MD, PhD, associate professor of ophthalmology, Duke University.
With no treatment options currently available for geographic atrophy (GA), an advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), pegcetacoplan could fill a huge unmet need, explained Eleonora Lad, MD, PhD, associate professor of ophthalmology, Duke University.
The drug is currently under review for approval with the FDA, which is expected to make a decision by February 26.
Transcript
There will be multiple presentations on the 2-year outcomes of the DERBY and OAKS trials of pegcetacoplan. What is the importance of this drug for the field?
It's such an exciting time for geographic atrophy. As we all know, geographic atrophy is a huge unmet need, and a drug approval during AMD Awareness Month would be a game changer for very large aging population. GA is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. Again, a huge clinical unmet need. If this happens, and we start developing treatments for this disease, this would constitute the most important advance in ophthalmology in the past decade.
GA affects 1 million individuals in the United States and 5 million worldwide, so a large population will be impacted. It's truly so important to begin to have a treatment for this disease in our clinics to offer our patients.
Based on the number of cases, why is there a disproportionate number of cases in the United States? Is geographic atrophy underrecognized or underdiagnosed globally?
Most likely. Because we haven't had any available treatments to date, I firmly believe that a lot of the dry AMD patients from earlier stages, but also geographic atrophy, are hiding in the comprehensive optometric clinics. There's no reason to refer them for retinal assessments or diagnosis and staging of the disease, because we've had absolutely no approved options for this disease.
As you know, the only interventions we can offer are the AREDS vitamins to slow the progression to the wet form or low-vision therapy for the really impacted patients. But truly no treatments have been approved for an option so far, so, why refer?
In this interview with The American Journal of Managed Care®, Katie Queen, MD, addresses the complexity of obesity as a medical condition, pivoting to virtual care while ensuring that patients who lived in a rural location continued to receive adequate care, and the importance of integrating awareness of obesity and chronic disease prevention into local food culture.
Read More
Recent T1D Research Contradicts Common Assumptions About Patients
November 15th 2023Michael Fang, PhD, researcher and assistant professor in the division of Cardiovascular and Clinical Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University, discussed recent findings in the type 1 diabetes (T1D) space that may alter the way providers address diabetes diagnoses.
Read More
Oncology Onward: A Conversation With Thyme Care CEO and Cofounder Robin Shah
October 2nd 2023Robin Shah, CEO of Thyme Care, which he founded in 2020 with Bobby Green, MD, president and chief medical officer, joins hosts Emeline Aviki, MD, MBA, and Stephen Schleicher, MD, MBA, to discuss his evolution as an entrepreneur in oncology care innovation and his goal of positively changing how patients experience the cancer system.
Listen
Evaluating Label Warnings, Switching Rates in Patients With Psoriasis Initiating New Treatment
November 9th 2023Posters presented at the 2023 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference evaluated how label warnings may affect new treatment initiation and real-word switching patterns for patients starting risankizumab.
Read More
Innovation in Value-Based Care Requires More Data, Patient-Centered Thinking
November 9th 2023In a panel discussion at the 2023 Patient-Centered Oncology Care® meeting held in Nashville, Tennessee, experts discussed the Enhancing Oncology Model and themes in the movement toward value-based care in oncology.
Read More