Real-World Experience with Intravitreal Pegcetacoplan for the Treatment of Geographic Atrophy in Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

PURPOSE

To report on the real-world experience of using intravitreal pegcetacoplan for the treatment of geographic atrophy (GA) in age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

DESIGN

Retrospective interventional case series.

METHODS

Eyes with symptomatic GA secondary to AMD were treated with 15mg of intravitreal pegcetacoplan and participated in an ongoing prospective swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) imaging study. All eyes underwent SS-OCTA imaging before and during pegcetacoplan therapy to assess for GA lesion size, the presence of non-exudative macular neovascularization (MNV), and the onset of exudation. The growth rate of GA and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were assessed for eyes followed for 1 year.

RESULTS

From April 12, 2023, to November 11, 2024, 154 eyes were injected with pegcetacoplan, and 103 eyes had 1-year follow-up. At baseline, 11 eyes had been previously treated with anti-VEGF therapy, and 9 eyes were diagnosed with treatment-naïve non-exudative MNV by SS-OCTA. Each eye received an average of 10±2 injections, with an average interval of 1.2 months between injections. For the 97 eyes with 1 year of follow-up and measurable GA, the square-root (sqrt) GA growth rate after pegcetacoplan treatment was 0.24±0.15 mm/year. Of these 97 eyes, 63 eyes had prior annual visits before pegcetacoplan treatment was started. In these eyes, the annual sqrt GA growth rate was 0.33±0.22 mm/year before pegcetacoplan and 0.21±0.12 mm/year after pegcetacoplan, resulting in a 37% decrease in the growth rate (p<0.001). There were no significant differences in GA growth rate between foveal and non-foveal GA, either before or after the use of pegcetacoplan (all p≥0.80). The mean BCVA declined from 63±14 to 59±15 letters over one year (p=0.001), with no significant difference between foveal and non-foveal GA (p=0.36). Among the 29 eyes developing exudation during pegcetacoplan treatment, 19 (66%) had no evidence of any detectable MNV at baseline and during treatment on SS-OCTA.

CONCLUSIONS

Eyes treated with pegcetacoplan after 1 year had a 37% reduction in GA growth rate compared with their prior annual growth rate. Pegcetacoplan slowed the growth for foveal and non-foveal GA at a similar rate. Most of the pegcetacoplan-associated exudation was not due to detectable MNV.