The Journal of VitreoRetinal Diseases (JVRD), which is the peer-reviewed journal of the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS), published a general report on Syfovre retinal-related vision loss, co-authored by members of the ASRS Research and Safety in Therapeutics (ReST) Committee. In summary, this report revealed that at least 13 patients had Syfovre retinal-related vision loss in 2023.
That December 2023 JVRD ASRS ReST report article, “Retinal Vasculitis After Intravitreal Pegcetacoplan: Report From the ASRS Research and Safety in Therapeutics (ReST) Committee“, considered 14 eyes of 13 patients who developed retinal vasculitis after their first Syfovre injection. For this set of Syfovre retinal-related vision loss cases, the ASRS ReST report provided these findings:
- 11 eyes were diagnosed as having developed occlusive vasculitis after a Syfovre injection;
- 6 of 14 eyes had significant vision loss, having lost more than 6 lines of vision; and,
- 2 eyes required enucleation, a surgical procedure that involves the removal of the entire eye.
And from the Abstract for that December 2023 JVRD article:
Conclusions: There is currently no known etiology for vasculitis in this series. Optimum treatment strategies remain unknown. Infectious etiologies should be considered, and corticosteroid treatments may hasten resolution of inflammatory findings. Continued treatment of affected patients with [Syfovre (pegcetacoplan)] should be avoided.
From this February 28, 2024, Fierce Pharma news report, “Apellis cites current challenges with Syfovre launch but bright prospects in the long term“, we get the most recent explanation from Apellis about the cause of Syfovre retinal-related vision loss:
As for Syfovre’s safety issue — which Apellis originally speculated was a needle problem for the injected drug — the company now “firmly” believes it is caused by a pre-existing allergy toward polyethylene glycol, Francois said. The incidence of users developing vasculitis remains at .01% per injection, the company said.
We are handling Syfovre drug injury lawsuits for patients who had Syfovre retinal-related vision loss. Those Syfovre lawsuits would be filed against Apellis Pharmaceuticals, not the patients’ ophthalmologists or retina specialists.
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