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Macular degeneration, Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis have some things in common, including inflammation and the formation of deposits.  In Alzheimers, the deposits are plaque in the brain; in AMD, the deposits are drusen in the retina.  Copaxone is being investigated as a treatment for all three diseases.  It is already used to treat multiple sclerosis and has been proven safe in that treatment.  

The intention of the study is to see if Copaxone will reduce the drusen in dry AMD.  Earlier studies showed that eyes treated with Copaxone showed a reduction in drusen area of over 53% after 12 weeks.  This is compared to patients without treatment those eyes showed an average 25% increase in the total area of drusen over 6 months.  None of the untreated eyes showed any shrinking of the drusen area at all. 

This study is taking place at the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary.  Ongoing research is taking place at several other sites, but this is the only one recruiting patients at this time. Once they have had a chance to review all the results, they plan to start a Phase II trial, which will involve many more patients.  That larger trial will give researchers much more information on the safety and effectiveness of Copaxone.

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