On Wednesday, Ophthotech Corporation announced the results of a clinical trial showing significantly more effective treatment of wet macular degeneration using its FovistaTM anti-PDGF therapy (1.5 mg) in combination with Lucentis anti-VEGF therapy over using Lucentis® (ranibizumab) alone.

In the prospective, randomized, controlled Phase 2b clinical trial of 449 patients with wet AMD, patients receiving the combination of Fovista (1.5 mg) and Lucentis gained a mean of 10.6 letters of vision on the ETDRS standardized chart at 24 weeks, compared to 6.5 letters for patients receiving Lucentis monotherapy (p=0.019), representing a 62% additional benefit. No significant safety issues were observed for either treatment group in the trial.

Enhanced visual outcomes of Fovista anti-PDGF (1.5 mg) combination therapy as compared to Lucentis monotherapy were demonstrated at every monthly timepoint. In addition, the relative magnitude of visual benefit continued to increase over time.

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Interestingly, the stock of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: REGN) fell on the news since its AMD injection, Eylea, was not used in the study. But as some analysts pointed out, Fovista could be used in combination with Regeneron’s EyLea as well.