Phil Ferrone, MD, is the chief medical retina advisor at Apellis Pharmaceuticals, a global biopharmaceutical company and manufacturer of SYFOVRE (pegcetacoplan injection) for the treatment of geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to AMD. Dr. Ferrone is a practicing retina specialist and serves as the director of clinical research at Vitreoretinal Consultants in New York.
Ophthalmology Management: Can you discuss your role as chief medical retina advisor at Apellis? How did you get started in this role?
Phil Ferrone: As chief medical retina advisor, I am helping to further educate and provide insights to build understanding about GA, SYFOVRE’s data and advance new research.
I was an investigator for several of Apellis’ studies in GA, so I had been familiar with the company, the team and science for years. Apellis has deep expertise in complement science, and I always admired their focus on advancing care for people living with GA. When Apellis’ GA treatment, SYFOVRE, was approved as the first-ever treatment for GA secondary to AMD, a devastating disease, I was an early adopter, given my experience with the treatment in clinical trials.
It is exciting to now be part of this team. When I was offered the opportunity to join as chief medical retina advisor, I couldn’t pass it up. Apellis has the perfect combination of innovative science and a world-class team.
OM: Why did you move in this direction with your career and how?
PF: I’ve always been interested in developing new treatments for patients, which is why I’ve been a principal investigator in more than 60 clinical trials across multiple retina diseases. I learned a lot about the drug development process through those experiences, but it’s all from the outside. I was excited about the opportunity to join Apellis, be part of the drug development process from the inside and learn about all the other aspects of the process that can only be done as part of a biopharma company.
OM: Can you discuss the significance of having a practicing retina specialist as chief medical retina advisor?
PF: My role as a practicing retinal specialist enables me to bring valuable insights to my role as chief medical retina advisor. I’m continuing to stay up to speed on the latest research in the field while also seeing hundreds of patients in the clinic each week and operating on all types of blinding retinal diseases. This experience allows me to provide my colleagues at Apellis with the viewpoint of practicing retina specialists and focus on the clinical and practice challenges that doctors face in delivering care to these patients from a very practical perspective.
OM: Can you discuss the latest developments at Apellis?
PF: Recently, we were very excited to present data at the American Society of Retina Specialists, which showed that SYFOVRE demonstrated a visual function benefit in a prespecified analysis in the GALE long-term extension study. SYFOVRE is the only approved treatment to achieve this, building on similar results from multiple post hoc microperimetry analyses. Additionally, the safety profile of SYFOVRE in the GALE study continued to be consistent with previously reported Phase 3 data. These data highlight how SYFOVRE can make a meaningful difference in patients’ lives and reinforces the importance of slowing GA lesion growth with an increasing effect over time.
OM: How will your extensive expertise in retina research and patient care help advance Apellis’ retina pipeline?
PF: That breadth of experience enables me to bring unique lessons to my role at Apellis — whether we are discussing research programs or data generation for our approved GA product. My perspective is always driven by first-hand experiences of more than
30 years of treating these patients, and, in my advisor role, I relate that view back to the Apellis business and R&D teams. Apellis is well-versed with all the complexities of developing and marketing a drug, and they value including the views of someone focused on the patient and physician issues to ensure access and availability of that beneficial drug. OM
