Allergan, Molecular Partners eye drug meets main goal in two studies

(Reuters) – Allergan Plc and Molecular Partners AG said on Thursday their treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of vision loss among people over 65, met the main goal in two late-stage studies.

The drug, abicipar, demonstrated that both the 8-week and 12-week treatment regimens met the goal of non-inferiority to Roche Holding AG and Novartis AG’s Lucentis.

The current market is dominated by Lucentis and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ Eylea.

The two companies, however, said that incidence of intraocular inflammations in patients taking abicipar was higher compared to those taking Lucentis in both trials.

Abicipar demonstrated similar effectiveness after six or eight injections, compared to 13 Lucentis injections in the first year of the study, the company said.

The regulatory filing for the treatment is planned for the first half of 2019 and Allergan will be requesting a meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to discuss submission of its marketing application.