Opthea’s Purpose
Opthea is developing a novel therapeutic, OPT-302, to improve vision and reduce retinal swelling in patients with eye diseases that affect the back-of-the-eye or retina.
Wet (neovascular) age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME) are the leading causes of visual impairment in the elderly and diabetic populations respectively. Globally, progressive vision loss associated with wet AMD and DME contributes to significant healthcare and economic costs and greatly impacts patient independence and quality of life. Current treatment options for wet AMD and DME patients are limited and work sub-optimally in the majority of patients.
With the prevalence of both diseases on the rise given global aging populations, the rising incidence of diabetes worldwide, and the suboptimal responses many patients experience to standard of care therapies, there remains a significant market opportunity for novel therapies that can improve vision in patients with these diseases.
OPT-302 is Opthea’s Phase 3 product candidate, designed to inhibit VEGF-C and VEGF-D and to be used in combination with standard of care VEGF-A inhibitors. OPT-302 combination therapy achieves broader inhibition of the VEGF family, targets a mechanism of clinical resistance to existing treatments and has the potential to improve visual acuity in patients with retinal eye diseases.