New Drug Slows Progression of Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration
An international team of researchers has found a way to slow the
progression of an advanced form of age-related macular degeneration
(AMD), a leading cause of irreversible, severe vision loss in Western
countries.
“I’m delighted with the results. In the past decade, we have made tremendous advances in treating one of the late complications of AMD which is called wet AMD, where blood vessels leak in the back of the eye and destroy vision rapidly,” said team member Professor Robyn Guymer, of the Centre for Eye Research Australia and the University of Melbourne.
“Now we are directing our attention to treating the other irreversible late complication of AMD, called dry AMD or geographic atrophy.”
Dry AMD is a condition where the cells in the retina die slowly over many years, eventually leading to irreversible loss of vision.
“It is like having moth eaten holes in your vision and they slowly all join up in the middle part of the vision, destroying the ability to read, drive and recognizing faces,” Professor Guymer explained.
Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a platform of novel therapeutic compounds for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, developed a new compound called the complement factor 3 (C3) inhibitor APL-2 for treating patients with dry AMD.
“APL-2 is designed to inhibit the complement cascade centrally at C3, and may have the potential to treat a wide range of complement-mediated diseases more effectively than is possible with partial inhibitors of complement,” the researchers said.
“APL-2 is a synthetic cyclic peptide conjugated to a polyethylene glycol polymer that binds specifically to C3 and C3b, effectively blocking all three pathways of complement activation (classical, lectin, and alternative).”
The Phase II FILLY trial of APL-2 was sponsored by Apellis Pharmaceuticals and included 246 patients across 40 testing sites, in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
Patients were given injections either monthly or every other month for 12 months, resulting in a reduction in dry AMD lesion growth of 29% and 20% respectively, compared to control patients.
Additionally, a greater effect was observed during the second six months of the study: a reduction in dry AMD lesion growth rate of 47% with monthly administration, and a reduction of 33% with every other month administration.
“We are very excited about the results of this study,” said Dr. Cedric Francois, founder and chief executive officer of Apellis Pharmaceuticals.
“In addition to demonstrating a statistically significant slowing of disease over 12 months, APL-2’s effect appears to increase in the second six months of the study, slowing down the rate of degeneration by almost half. We plan to move forward with Phase III studies as soon as possible.”
“These results are very exciting for all people afflicted with dry AMD,” said team member Dr. David Boyer, of Retina-Vitreous Associates Medical Group.
“It is currently an untreatable condition, and the reduction of the progression of atrophy in this trial offers new hope for vision maintenance for our patients.”
Source :sci-news.com |
| Dry age-related macular degeneration is one of the most common causes of vision loss in people over the age of 50. Image credit: Pexels. |
“I’m delighted with the results. In the past decade, we have made tremendous advances in treating one of the late complications of AMD which is called wet AMD, where blood vessels leak in the back of the eye and destroy vision rapidly,” said team member Professor Robyn Guymer, of the Centre for Eye Research Australia and the University of Melbourne.
“Now we are directing our attention to treating the other irreversible late complication of AMD, called dry AMD or geographic atrophy.”
Dry AMD is a condition where the cells in the retina die slowly over many years, eventually leading to irreversible loss of vision.
“It is like having moth eaten holes in your vision and they slowly all join up in the middle part of the vision, destroying the ability to read, drive and recognizing faces,” Professor Guymer explained.
Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a platform of novel therapeutic compounds for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, developed a new compound called the complement factor 3 (C3) inhibitor APL-2 for treating patients with dry AMD.
“APL-2 is designed to inhibit the complement cascade centrally at C3, and may have the potential to treat a wide range of complement-mediated diseases more effectively than is possible with partial inhibitors of complement,” the researchers said.
“APL-2 is a synthetic cyclic peptide conjugated to a polyethylene glycol polymer that binds specifically to C3 and C3b, effectively blocking all three pathways of complement activation (classical, lectin, and alternative).”
The Phase II FILLY trial of APL-2 was sponsored by Apellis Pharmaceuticals and included 246 patients across 40 testing sites, in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
Patients were given injections either monthly or every other month for 12 months, resulting in a reduction in dry AMD lesion growth of 29% and 20% respectively, compared to control patients.
Additionally, a greater effect was observed during the second six months of the study: a reduction in dry AMD lesion growth rate of 47% with monthly administration, and a reduction of 33% with every other month administration.
“We are very excited about the results of this study,” said Dr. Cedric Francois, founder and chief executive officer of Apellis Pharmaceuticals.
“In addition to demonstrating a statistically significant slowing of disease over 12 months, APL-2’s effect appears to increase in the second six months of the study, slowing down the rate of degeneration by almost half. We plan to move forward with Phase III studies as soon as possible.”
“These results are very exciting for all people afflicted with dry AMD,” said team member Dr. David Boyer, of Retina-Vitreous Associates Medical Group.
“It is currently an untreatable condition, and the reduction of the progression of atrophy in this trial offers new hope for vision maintenance for our patients.”
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