Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved the use of a new and first treatment for geographic atrophy - a disease which causes severe, progressive central vision loss and is a leading cause of legal blindness for people over 50.
Until now there has been no approved treatment for Australians with geographic atrophy, which can cause people to lose their ability to read, drive and recognise faces.
Australia is the first country outside of the United States to approve the use of the drug pegcetacoplan (SYFOVRE) to slow down the progression of geographic atrophy.
Professor Guymer led the Centre for Eye Research Australia's site of the international clinical trials into the new drug and was on the global advisory committee for the pharmaceutical company Apellis.
The Phase 3 OAKS and Derby studies demonstrated that regular eye injections with pegcetacoplan slowed down the growth of lesions in which the retina's light-sensing photoreceptor cells die, leaving holes with no vision.
"The approval is a game changer for the treatment of geographic atrophy and brings hope to tens of thousands of Australians who have been waiting for a treatment,'' Professor Guymer said.
Professor Guymer said the approval of a treatment that can slow the progression of geographic atrophy is a positive first step, with scientists now hoping to continue research which aims to find ways of preventing damage before it occurs.
Professor Guymer's team at CERA conducts an extensive research program, collaborating with teams around the world to investigate all aspects of age-related macular degeneration.
She said continued research was needed to understand what caused cell death in macular degeneration, how to detect those at greatest risk of losing their sight and how to intervene earlier with treatments that prevent progression to vision loss.
