EyePoint Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:EYPT) presented 36-month efficacy and safety data supporting its YUTIQ three-year micro-insert for the treatment of chronic non-infectious uveitis affecting the posterior segment of the eye at the 2019 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“The 36-month follow-up data of the Phase 3 clinical trial showed a uveitis recurrence rate of 56.3% for YUTIQ, which was significantly lower than that of sham-treated eyes, which was 92.9%,” Dr. Glenn Jaffe, Prof. of ophthalmology at Duke University School of Medicine, said in a statement.
“It is critically important to decrease uveitic recurrences to prevent blindness associated with secondary effects of inflammation,” he added. Safety results at 36-months were similar to the 24-month update, with no unanticipated side effects.
Dr. Jaffe also said the procedure rate to treat glaucoma was no higher in the YUTIQ group than in the sham group. “These durable and promising 36-month results continue to reinforce the potential of YUTIQ as a long-acting treatment option for patients suffering from this chronic disease, which is the third leading cause of blindness,” he added.
Nancy Lurker, president and CEO of EyePoint, said the company believes YUTIQ addresses the limitations of local corticosteroids, the current standard of care for uveitis, by providing a one-time administration of continuous dosing of fluocinolone acetonide for up to 36 months, which avoids drug peaks and valleys and improves patient compliance. EyePoint recently made YUTIQ commercially available.
