THE Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has approved Apellis Pharmaceuticals' Syfovre (pegcetacoplan) for treatment of adult patients with geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), with an intact fovea and when central vision is threatened by GA lesion growth.
Administered every other month, Syfovre is the first and only approved treatment for GA in Australia.
More than 75,000 Australians are living with GA, an advanced form of AMD and a leading cause of blindness worldwide.
It is a progressive and irreversible disease caused by the growth of lesions, which destroy the retinal cells responsible for vision.
The vision loss caused by GA severely impairs independence and quality of life.
"As a retina specialist, I have seen how GA often takes away a person's ability to read, drive, and even see faces of their loved ones," said Professor Robyn Guymer, Deputy Director, Centre for Eye Research Australia.
"The approval of Syfovre is a historic moment full of hope for the Australian GA community, who have been waiting for a treatment."
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