Ophthalmology Therapeutic Roundup — November 17, 2016

Here's a look at some of the latest news regarding ophthalmic drugs and therapies from the past week. 

• Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. announced positive topline results for its phase 3 clinical trial of DEXTENZA™ (dexamethasone insert) 0.4 mg, for the treatment of post-surgical ocular inflammation and pain. A reported 52.3 percent of patients treated with DEXTENZA showed an absence of inflammatory cells in the anterior chamber of the study eye on day 14, compared to 31.1 percent in the placebo group. And 79.6 percent of treated patients reported absence of pain in the study eye on day 8, compared to 61.3 percent in the placebo group.
• Avellino Labs announced plans to launch a keratoconus screening test in Korea, Japan and China in the first quarter of 2017. The test will reportedly screen for four DNA mutations the company identified during a recent study that conferred genetic risk factors in nine to 21 percent of patients within the study group from Korea, implying a statistically significant increased risk for keratoconus.
• Ophthalmic medical technology company Glaukos Corporation completed patient enrollment for the initial phase of its U.S. FDA Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) trial for the standalone version of the iStent inject® Trabecular Micro-Bypass Stent. The initial phase of the trial reportedly includes about 75 subjects randomized to receive either iStent inject or laser trabeculoplasty, who will then be followed for three months to evaluate safety.
• Clinical stage biopharmaceutical company Stealth BioTherapeutics initiated ReCLAIM — a Phase 1 study evaluating elamipretide in intermediate age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Top-line data is expected mid-year 2017.
• Clearside Biomedical, Inc. enrolled the first patient in its Phase 1/2 clinical trial of Zuprata™ — its proprietary suspension formulation of the corticosteroid triamcinolone acetonide, for the treatment of diabetic macular edema. The trial, also known as the HULK trial, is designed to assess the safety and efficacy of the administration of Zuprata to the suprachoroidal space concomitant with intravitreal aflibercept, as well as suprachoroidal Zuprata monotherapy, in patients with DME.
• And Omeros Corporation reported pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data from the evaluation of OMS906 in non-human primates.  OMS906 reportedly inhibits mannan-binding lectin-associated serine protease-3 (MASP-3), the protein critical to activation of the alternative pathway of complement (APC), a key component of the immune system. ACP is reportedly involved in a wide range of diseases, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and traumatic brain injury.