GA Research Clinical Trials

GA Research and Clinical Trials

Several other therapeutic options for GA involving gene therapy, cell therapy and microcurrent stimulation are currently in early phase clinical trials. ​^20–22​ A significant amount of research has focused on the complement pathway as a target for therapies and the current two FDA approved therapies both target complement. However, results from other clinical trials of anti-complement therapies suggests that some patients do not respond to these therapies and that other pathways need to be targeted i.e. there maybe multiple GA subtypes​²³​. Further research is required to enable clinicians to predict disease progression in patients and identify biomarkers to predict response to therapies.​²³​

GA Risk Factors and Progression

Factors affecting GA progression rates

Once GA has been diagnosed, the rate of progression varies between individuals. Mean growth rates of atrophic areas ranging from 1.2 to 2.8 mm² per year have been reported.​^24,25​ Factors associated with variations in GA growth rates include size, configuration and location of atrophic areas, fellow eye status, genetic factors, smoking, diet and sun exposure.​^10,26,27​