Multiple reports have shown that only about 11% of Phase I clinical trials make it through to regulatory approval. Business, says retina expert Pravin Dugel, MD, president of Iveric Bio, follows a similar trajectory. Success comes only after multiple failures. 

Dr. Dugel has enjoyed success as a retina surgeon, as a principal investigator, and as president of a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for retinal disease. He became a leader in his field partly due to his fearless risk-taking and his ability to learn from the times when those risks didn’t pan out. 

An immigrant refugee from Nepal who fled to Austria with his family, Dr. Dugel followed his brother to a boarding school in England, finished high school and college in New York, and moved to the opposite coast to complete medical school, a residency, and a fellowship in southern California.

Taking a calculated risk based on what seemed like a promising market, Dr. Dugel moved to Phoenix, Arizona, to build his clinical practice, Retina Consultants of Arizona. Though it took years of trial and error, he succeeded in founding one of the most innovative retina practices in the country. He has also served as principal investigator in more than 100 clinical trials, including known products such as NeoVista and Beovu.

With host Firas Rahhal, MD, Dr. Dugel talks about what he and other investigators learned from the NeoVista clinical trials that would inform future protocols. He also discusses the science behind Zimura (avacincaptad pegol), Iveric Bio’s therapy for geographic atrophy, a part of late-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD). 

Zimura received a special protocol assessment (SPA) from the Food and Drug Administration, which may help expedite approvals. Trial results from Zimura’s GATHER2 studies are expected in the second half of 2022.

Listen to the Podcast to find out:

• The MOA behind Zimura  and why it may have an impact on intermediate macular degeneration and wet AMD. 
• How Dr. Dugel expanded his career from traditional academic practice to research physician to biopharma entrepreneur, and the one quality that helped him along the way.
• What went wrong with NeoVista and Beovu and what the industry can learn from these studies.

Click “play” to listen.