Ophthotech Rises on Positive Mid-Stage Results

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 13, 1:42AM EST · Published Oct 31, 2:54PM EDT

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Ophthotech Rises on Positive Mid-Stage Results — © Thinkstock

Ophthotech Corp. (NASDAQ: OPHT) is watching its shares rise in Monday’s trading session after the company reported results from its mid-stage trial of Fovista in combination with Lucentis for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Essentially, these results met the pre-specified primary efficacy endpoint of mean change in visual acuity.

Patients receiving the combination of Fovista and Lucentis gained a mean of 10.6 letters of vision on the ETDRS standardized chart at 24 weeks, compared to 6.5 letters for patients receiving Lucentis monotherapy. This represents a 62% additional benefit from baseline. No significant safety issues were observed for either treatment group in the trial.

Topline data from the two Phase 3 clinical trials of Fovista is expected in the fourth quarter of this year.

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For some background, Ophthotech is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of novel therapeutics to treat back of the eye diseases, with a focus on developing innovative therapies for AMD. Ophthotech’s most advanced product candidate, Fovista anti-PDGF therapy, is in Phase 3 clinical trials for use in combination with anti-VEGF therapy that represents the current standard of care for the treatment of wet AMD.

Samir Patel, M.D., President and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Ophthotech, commented:

We are honored to have the findings of the Phase 2b Fovista combination therapy study in wet AMD patients published in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, a highly-respected peer-review publication. The strength of results of this large trial represent the basis for our Fovista in combination with anti-VEGF therapy Phase 3 registration program for the treatment of wet AMD.

So far in 2016, Ophthotech has vastly underperformed the broad markets with the stock down 57% in this time.

Shares of Ophthotech were last trading up nearly 10% at $35.54, with a consensus analyst price target of $92.91 and a 52-week trading range of $31.50 to $80.00.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.