Last week, clinical-stage ophthalmology company Acucela Inc. reported it had completed the treatment period in its ongoing Phase 2b/3 clinical trial of the investigational visual cycle modulator emixustat hydrochloride (emixustat).
Known as the S.E.A.T.T.L.E. study, 508 patients with geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) have been enrolled, with the last patient having completed the treatment period of 24 months. The primary objective of the study is to detect differences in lesion growth rate between treatment groups, and Acucela reportedly plans to report data from the clinical trial by June 2016.
Emixustat hydrochloride (emixustat) is a once-daily, orally administered small molecule that inhibits RPE65 -- an enzyme crucial to the visual cycle -- and has been shown in animal models to play a critical role in slowing the progression of multiple retinal degenerative diseases.
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