Apellis says EU regulator panel may not back its eye disease drug (updated)
14/12/2023 12:28
(Adds shares in paragraph 1, background on disease in paragraph
3)
Dec 14 (Reuters) - Apellis Pharmaceuticals APLS.O said
on Thursday the European drug regulator's advisory panel may
decline to back an authorization for its drug to treat a chronic
eye disease, sending its shares down more than 14% in premarket
trading.
The company said it was informed on Wednesday that the panel
may vote against the drug, a form of pegcetacoplan directly
injected in the back of the eye, at the next meeting on Jan.
22-25.
The company has applied for use of the drug in patients with
geographic atrophy, an advanced form of a disease that leads to
degeneration of a part of the eye called macula.
The disease affects more than 2.5 million people in Europe,
according to the company.
(Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank
Dhaniwala and Arun Koyyur)
((Leroy.Dsouza@thomsonreuters.com ; https://twitter.com/LeroyLeo7;))