Thomas Aaberg, Jr, MD, Chief Medical Officer for Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, spoke with Ophthalmology 360 at AAO 2025 about this year’s “historic” FDA approval for the treatment of macular telangiectasia type 2.
Thomas Aaberg, Jr, MD:
Hi, I’m Tom Aaberg. I am a practicing retina specialist at Retina Specialists in Michigan. I’m also the Chief Medical Officer for Neurotech Pharmaceuticals.
I’ve been taking care of macular telangiectasia type 2 patients or MacTel patients for about 30 years. During those 3 decades, we haven’t had anything to offer them. You have to sit in front of the patient and you have to tell them, “I’m sorry, I don’t have anything I can do for you.” That is heartbreaking. It is heartbreaking for patients; it is heartbreaking for physicians. The approval of ENCELTO by the FDA on March 5, 2025, became a very exciting, historic moment. It is the first-in-class cell-based gene therapy. It is also now the first and only treatment for adults with macular telangiectasia type 2. But it also represents the collaboration, the dedication of researchers, physicians, and patients that really never gave up hope.
Neurotech has now started commercial activities. We started in June. ENCELTOconnect is a portal through which patients can be enrolled into the system. We have several hundred right now. I am proud of the work we’ve done and I’m super excited for my patients.
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