Results of company’s ocular discovery program suggest that sonepcizumab may be a valuable therapeutic in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy, dry age-related macular degeneration(AMD), uveitis, and scar formation that results in the failure of a significant percentage of glaucoma-related surgery.
The anti-permeability, anti-fibrosis and anti-inflammatory mechanism exhibited by Sonepcizumab in the recent studies suggest that it is much more than a potent inhibitor of pathologic ocular angiogenesis.
The three additional modes of action confirm the ability of sonepcizumab to mitigate multiple etiologies of wet AMD and suggest that sonepcizumab may have significant therapeutic advantages over singly targeted methods of treatment, such as anti-VEGF compounds. As a result, the company is planning to file an investigational new drug application with the FDA in 2008 for use of sonepcizumab in wet AMD patients.
Scott Pancoast, president and CEO of Lpath, said: “Sonepcizumab has shown to be, at least in animal models, its own combination therapy. This has created a broad spectrum of opportunity and positions Lpath extremely well to be a leader in ophthalmology.”