EYE experts in Southampton are pioneering a new treatment for blindness.

Doctors at Southampton General Hospital are trialling a new drug that can slow the progression of geographic atrophy, a currently untreatable form of blindness.

The drug, called lampalizumab, is now being tested in a final clinical study and could reduce the damage for sufferers by as much as 44 per cent.

Geographic atrophy occurs when cells in the eye responsible for vision become damaged by build-ups of waste, which leads to permanent loss of vision.

The condition accounts for 90 per cent of cases of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) – the leading cause of blindness in the UK.

There are currently no approved treatments for any stage whether early or advanced.

Prof Andrew Lotery, consultant ophthalmologist at the general and chief investigator of the UK lampalizumab study, said: “Geographic atrophy secondary to AMD is a debilitating condition which affects around five million people worldwide and has been untreatable for a long period of time, so this study marks a major milestone for patients and clinicians.

“Lampalizumab has already been shown to reduce damage caused by GA by 20 per cent in most cases and, for some patients with a specific genetic biomarker, by up to 44 per cent in early-stage trials.

"These are big reductions and, if they are replicated in this larger study, it will revolutionise the way we treat the condition meaning patients are no longer condemned to blindness when diagnosed.”

The two-year study will see just under 2,000 patients tested, with two thirds receiving a 10mg dose of the drug every four to six weeks while the remainder receive placebos.

Prof Lotery added: “We are still recruiting for the study, so it is important we get the message out to sufferers that they can come forward and be part of what we hope will be a very exciting development.”

Anyone with geographic atrophy who would like to be considered for the study should contact Marie Nelson on 023 8120 5266 or email marie.nelson@uhs.nhs.uk.

If suitable, they will be assessed in a research clinic which is funded by support from the Gift of Sight Appeal.

Patients who have had previous treatment for wet AMD are not suitable.