GEOGRAPHIC ATROPHY SECONDARY TO AMD: OPPORTUNITIES AND HOPES FOR THOSE AFFECTED

Target Audience
The target audiences for the HCP activity are ophthalmologists, advanced specialty practitioners, and ophthalmology nurses. Secondary audiences will include optometrists, as they play a key role in educating patients on risk factors and referring them to ophthalmologists.

Statement of Need/Program Overview
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the elderly in industrialized countries, and geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to AMD is responsible for approximately 20% of all cases of legal blindness. Still, many underestimate the burden of GA, a progressive and irreversible condition with few effective treatments, on patients and caregivers.

To help eye-care clinicians prepare for a paradigm shift in the management of GA, join a distinguished panel of ophthalmology experts to review the challenges in evaluating AMD and GA progression, as well as opportunities to improve monitoring with new and emerging technologies. The panel will discuss the pathophysiology underlying AMD and GA and how addressing the complement pathways could provide a viable management strategy. Current data on emerging agents for GA secondary to AMD will also be reviewed.

Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be better able to:

Summarize the negative consequences that GA secondary to AMD has on patients and caregivers and be more proactive in helping patients and caregivers maintain quality of life
Appraise new and emerging technologies to monitor progression of AMD and GA secondary to AMD
Summarize the role of complement activation in the progression of AMD and GA secondary to AMD
Assess the efficacy and safety of emerging treatment options targeting the complement pathway for GA secondary to AMD