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Opko Health to terminate Phase III macular degeneration trial

OPKO Health, a specialty healthcare company, has announced that, following the recommendation of the Independent Data Monitoring Committee, it had decided to terminate its Phase III clinical study of Bevasiranib, a siRNA, for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration.

Although preliminary data, needing further analysis, show activity of Bevasiranib when used adjunctively with Genentech’s Lucentis, review of the data by the Independent Data Monitoring Committee indicated that the trial, as structured, was unlikely to meet its primary end point. There were no systemic safety issues identified and local ocular safety was generally unremarkable, the company said.

Phillip Frost, chairman and CEO of Opko Health, said: “While we are clearly disappointed with the preliminary results of this fully-enrolled study, the indications of activity are encouraging and we look forward to fully analyzing the data in the coming weeks. We remain committed to the continued development of our siRNA portfolio targeting vascular endothelial growth factor, including our recently announced VEGFA165b sparing siRNA.”