UPDATE 1-Apellis says EU regulator panel may not back its eye disease drug
(Adds shares in paragraph 1, background on disease in paragraph 3)
Dec 14 (Reuters) - Apellis Pharmaceuticals said on Thursday the European drug regulator's advisory panel may decline to back an authorization for its drug to treat a chronic eye disease, sending its shares down more than 14% in premarket trading.
The company said it was informed on Wednesday that the panel may vote against the drug, a form of pegcetacoplan directly injected in the back of the eye, at the next meeting on Jan. 22-25.
The company has applied for use of the drug in patients with geographic atrophy, an advanced form of a disease that leads to degeneration of a part of the eye called macula.
The disease affects more than 2.5 million people in Europe, according to the company. (Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Arun Koyyur)
