Significantly Slower GA Growth Seen With Avacincaptad Pegol

For the GATHER2 trial, published in The Lancet, Arshad Khanani, MD, MA, FASRS, and colleagues investigated the efficacy and safety of avacincaptad pegol 2 mg in treating GA. Over 12 months, avacincaptad pegol 2 mg demonstrated a significant reduction in GA lesion growth compared with sham treatment. The lesion growth rate was 0.336 mm/year with avacincaptad pegol 2 mg, compared with 0.392 mm/year with the sham treatment, indicating a 14% difference favoring avacincaptad pegol 2 mg. Safety analysis showed that avacincaptad pegol 2 mg was well-tolerated, with no severe adverse events like endophthalmitis, intraocular inflammation, or ischemic optic neuropathy reported during the 12 months. Although ocular treatment-emergent adverse events occurred, they were balanced between the avacincaptad pegol 2 mg and sham groups. The results suggest that “avacincaptad pegol might slow disease progression and potentially change the trajectory of disease for patients with geographic atrophy,” wrote Dr. Khanani and team.