A patient receiving care from the Ophthalmology team at the James Paget has urged more people to volunteer for research after participating in a trial of a drug to combat a sight-threatening disease.
Dermott was the first patient in the UK and Europe to take part in the ‘Phoenix’ oral drug trial, which enrolled more than 500 patients globally.
The study aims to determine the effectiveness of a drug called Tinlarebant in slowing the progression of Geographic Atrophy (GA).
GA is an advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) a potentially serious and progressive eye condition that affects the back of the eye.
Dermott, 72, first realised he had an issue with his sight in the summer of 2021, when he noticed a type of flashing in front of his eyes.
A trip to the optician followed by a referral for tests led to a diagnosis of AMD, which affects more than 500,000 people in the UK, making it the leading cause of severe sight loss in the country.
“It’s a serious condition affecting mainly older people,” explained Dermott, who lives near King’s Lynn. “There’s no cure and as it progresses you lose your central vision so that eventually you are unable to read, drive or see faces although your peripheral vision remains unaffected.”
Despite such a concerning diagnosis, Dermott was determined to take a proactive approach in managing his condition, and signed up for a research trial at the country’s leading eye hospital, Moorfields in London.
In addition, he threw himself into helping the Moorfields Eye Charity with an appeal to raise money for a Spectralis OCT Scanner for the hospital’s Clinical Research Facility, becoming the ‘face’ of the campaign with his photograph on leaflets, posters and appearing in a promotional video.
The campaign raised £153,000 in just four months during 2022, allowing the hospital to buy the scanner, which helps with research into sight-saving treatments for conditions such as AMD.
Meanwhile, Dermott’s wife Sarah – who runs a neurology practice – had been doing her own research, which led her to the work of James Paget Consultant Professor Ben Burton, a leading authority on AMD and currently President of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.
Professor Burton was named as a Principal Investigator for ‘Phoenix’ in 2024, and his ophthalmology research team achieved a significant milestone by recruiting Dermott as the first participant in the UK and Europe to the trial.
Last month, Dermott completed his two years on the study, which has seen him take a tablet once a day, with regular monitoring visits to the research team at the Paget along with telephone support available from the team 24/7.
“I would encourage who is given the opportunity to participate in research to take it,” said Dermott.
“If trials don’t take place and aren’t give the chance to succeed, then the disease just carries on.”
“That’s why trials like Phoenix are so important – and give you the chance to make a positive and important contribution to a disease being slowed or even stopped.”
All participants in Phoenix were randomly assigned by a computer to get either the study drug or a placebo.
The study, which is sponsored by pharmaceutical company Belite Bio, is now closed to recruitment. It is due to conclude in summer next year.
