Ophthalmology Therapeutic Roundup — December 15, 2016

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

• Acucela Inc. and EyeMedics, LLC have announced an R&D agreement and exclusive option to acquire the global rights to its proprietary biomimetic technology, including an initial candidate molecule for ophthalmic use, from EyeMedics. The proprietary technology — licensed by EyeMedics from the University of Southern California — reportedly modulates endogenous factors released during the inflammatory process at the early pathogenic stages of age related macular degeneration (AMD), proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), diabetic macular edema (DME) and other retinal neovascular conditions.
• Biopharmaceutical company Dompé announced the acceptance of the registration application submitted to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for Oxervate® eye drops, for the treatment of moderate and severe neurotrophic keratitis in adult patients.
• Ocugen, Inc. has closed a $6 million round of Series A funding, reportedly allowing the company to continue efforts to advance its OCU300 program toward an IND submission within a year. OCU300 is a repurposed drug with an established safety track record in ocular applications that is being developed for the treatment of ocular graft versus host disease (oGVHD) under the U.S. Food and Drug Agency’s 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway.
• Novartis announced the European Commission (EC) has granted an additional indication for Lucentis® (ranibizumab) to treat patients with visual impairment due to choroidal neovascularization (CNV) associated with causes other than neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), or secondary to pathologic myopia (PM). Additionally, Novartis recently reported initial topline results from two pivotal Phase III clinical studies evaluating the safety and efficacy of pegpleranib in combination with Lucentis for the treatment of nAMD.
• Allegro Ophthalmics, LLC has completed enrollment in the second stage of its DEL MAR trial that is evaluating the safety and efficacy of Luminate® in combination and as an adjunctive therapy with anti-VEGFs in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME).