Durga Borkar, MD, on avacincaptad pegol as routine care for geographic atrophy

During the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) meeting, Durga Borkar, MD, MMCi, an associate professor of ophthalmology at Duke University Eye Center, presented a real-world study examining treatment patterns and outcomes for patients with geographic atrophy (GA) using avacincaptad pegol (ACP). The research Dr Borkar shared at AAO leverages the IRIS registry. Included patients received their first ACP injection between September 2023 and August 2024.

In this conversation, Dr Borkar shares key highlights and data points from her poster discussion. Focusing on the safety data points, she addresses how they may impact the way providers use ACP in their practices.

Dr Borkar also spoke about patient expectations and the future of GA treatment. "Both options that we have available to us for treating geographic atrophy are still fairly new within their first couple years, so there are still many patients that we're meeting that are good candidates for treatment," she said. "I think it's important to explain to [patients] a few things. One is that the goal of this treatment is really to slow down the progression of irreversible vision loss. And we know that patients with geographic atrophy suffer, have a lot of functional impairment from their disease. So this is important to highlight, but it's also key to note to them so that expectations are realistic, is that this is not going to reverse the disease process."