At this year’s ARVO 2024, the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), Texas Retina’s Dr. Abbey presented 36-month data from the GALE study of pegcetacoplan (brand name Syfovre), the first-ever treatment for geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

GALE is a 3-year extension study involving patients who were in the Phase III clinical trials — DERBY and OAKS — which led to the FDA approval of pegcetacoplan for the treatment of geographic atrophy. All patients were treated either monthly or every other month.

Dr. Abbey’s ARVO presentation focused on the results of patients enrolled in the GALE study who have now been on pegcetacoplan for a total of 36 months. Key findings included the following:

  • With monthly pegcetacoplan treatment, there was a 35% reduction in GA growth, and with every other month treatment, there was a 24% reduction.
  • Regarding non-subfoveal lesions, which tend to grow faster than foveal lesions, there was a 42% reduction with monthly treatment and a 28% reduction with every other month treatment. The fovea is the central portion of the macula, which is responsible for central vision.
  • When evaluating the progression to severe visual impairment, which is defined as less than 20/200 vision, there was a 38% risk reduction in patients receiving pegcetacoplan monthly.

“Those who are receiving consistent dosing, both in DERBY and OAKS, and now in the GALE study, will end up having a total of 5 years of treatment with pegcetacoplan,” explains Dr. Abbey. “Eventually, we’ll be able to analyze the very long-term data for those patients. So far, we are seeing an increasing effect of this treatment over time, both in terms of preservation of retinal tissue and reduction of growth.”

Click here to watch a video of Dr. Abbey discussing the 36-month data from the GALE study.

ARVO is the largest and most respected eye and vision research organization in the world, and its members include nearly 10,000 researchers from over 75 countries.

Dr. Abbey serves as Texas Retina’s Director of Research for Dallas and cares for patients in our Dallas Main and Rockwall offices. You can learn more about him here.