ClearSide

Oct 6, 2023

Disclosures: Khanani reports financial relationships with 4D Molecular Therapeutics, AbbVie, Adverum Biotechnologies, Aerie Pharmaceuticals, AGTC, Aldebaran Therapeutics, Allergan, Annexon Biosciences, Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Aviceda Therapeutics, Bausch & Lomb, BroadWing Bio, Clearside, Exegenesis, EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Frontera Therapeutics, Genentech, Gyroscope Therapeutics, i-Lumen Scientific, Iveric Bio, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Kato Pharmaceuticals, Kartos Therapeutics, Kodiak Sciences, Kriya Therapeutics, Nanoscope, Neurotech, NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Notal, Novartis, Ocular Therapeutix, Oculis, OcuTerra, Olive BioPharma, Opthea, Oxurion, Perfuse, PolyPhotonix, Protagonist, Ray Therapeutics, RecensMedical, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Regenxbio, Roche, RevOpsis, Stealth BioTherapeutics, Thea Pharma, Unity Biotechnology, Vanotech, and Vial. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures. ADD TOPIC TO EMAIL ALERTS Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com . Back to Healio Key takeaways: Geographic atrophy area growth was significantly slower in patients treated with avacincaptad pegol 2 mg vs. sham. Adverse events occurred in 49% of the avacincaptad pegol group and 37% of the sham group. The complement component 5 inhibitor avacincaptad pegol may have potential as a treatment to reduce geographic atrophy lesion growth and slow progression of disease, according to a study published in The Lancet. “The results of GATHER2 showed that monthly C5 inhibition with avacincaptad pegol 2 mg showed slower geographic atrophy growth compared with sham treatment and was well-tolerated over 12 months of treatment,” Arshad M. Khanani, MD, director of clinical research at Sierra Eye Associates and clinical associate professor at University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote. Avacincaptad pegol 2 mg significantly slowed geographic atrophy growth over 12 months compared with sham, according to research. Image: Adobe Stock Between June 2020 and July 2021, researchers enrolled 448 patients aged 50 years or older with non-centerpoint-involving geographic atrophy, who were randomly assigned to receive avacincaptad pegol 2 mg, administered as a monthly 100 L intravitreal injection, or sham. The groups were fairly evenly distributed, with 225 individuals (68% women) in the avacincaptad group and 223 in the sham group (70% women). Researchers performed monthly full ophthalmological examinations and OCT from the start of the study through month 12, as well as assessments of best corrected visual acuity and IOP. According to results, the mean rate of square-root-transformed geographic atrophy area growth in the avacincaptad pegol group was 0.336 mm per year compared with 0.033 mm per year in the sham group. Treatment-related adverse events were reported in 49% of the avacincaptad pegol group and 37% of the sham group, with the most common being conjunctival hemorrhage and hyperemia, punctate keratitis, increased IOP, macular neovascularization, dry eye, eye pain, vitreous detachment and cataract. None of the patients experienced endophthalmitis, intraocular inflammation or ischemic optic neuropathy events throughout the study period. “Although monthly injections can be a substantial burden to both patients and clinicians, the results of this study show that there is a treatment that can be used to slow the progression of the disease and the associated effect on the patient’s vision,” Khanani and colleagues wrote. Perspective