Ann: 2RT Webinar Professor Robyn H Guymer MMBBS, PHD, page-32

Has anyone done research into the use of gene therapy for treating AMD?? Novartis is trialing the use of GT005 as potentially the first treatment for AMD. They have had success with initial clinical trials and are undergoing phase II trials as we speak. Gene therapy would essentially have an effect akin to a cure and would only require one treatment. If all goes to plan GT005 will be the first treatment for AMD and will be released well before 2RT is approved. However, gene therapy is incredibly expensive (with costs in the millions per patient) so in order to access the entire AMD market (rather than a small subset made up of the wealthiest patients) they will need to substantially reduce the cost of gene therapy. This is obviously a major threat for 2RT from a very large company, and 2RT will likely not stand a chance against it if Novartis somehow manage to find a way to get the cost of gene therapy down to something more affordable. It is something I will certainly be asking about at the AGM. I have attached links to a number of (high quality) clinical trials currently being undertaken by Gyroscope, a subsidiary of Novartis. I look forward to hearing from some of the others here about their thoughts on GT005. Cheers

HORIZON: A Phase II Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Two Doses of GT005 - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov
EXPLORE: A Phase II Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Two Doses of GT005 - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov