Eyeworld Daily News

24 | EYEWORLD DAILY NEWS | JULY 23, 2021 ASCRS ANNUAL MEETING DAILY NEWS role in inflammation, is looking at PL9643 as an MCR agonist for dry eye disease. Carl Spana, PhD, said PL9643 has shown improvement in signs and symptoms of dry eye. Surface Ophthalmics has three building blocks that it's research- ing for dry eye conditions. One is betamethasone, which Kamran Hosseini, MD, described as a corticosteroid proven as potent and safe outside the U.S. Second is mycophenolate, an immunosup- pressant that inhibits T cells and B cells, which play a role in inflam- mation. Third is Klarity, which Dr. Hosseini said functions as a lubricant for comfort and reha- bilitating the ocular surface. The company is putting these together in different concentrations and formats for different indications. Closing the session, Aziz Mottiwala described Tarsus Phar- maceuticals' research for the first drug for Demodex blepharitis. TP- 03, a lotilaner compound, causes paralysis and death of the mites. The Saturn-1 trial met all primary and secondary endpoints, among them complete collarette cure and mite eradication. I nnovation in dry eye treat- ments was a focus at Eyeceler- ator. The session was moder- ated by Edward Holland, MD, with panelists Marjan Farid, MD, Nicole Fram, MD, Francis Mah, MD, and Robert Dempsey. Vicken Karageozian, MD, Allegro Ophthalmics, discussed the company's use of oxidative stress stabilizers, which he said provide anti-inflammatory action and the ability to stop oxidative stress. ALG-1007 is a topical peptide integrin regulator in a hyaluronic acid base, he said. A Phase 2, 4-arm study that eval- uated vehicle, ALG-1007's two components (peptide and hyal- uronic acid) alone, and ALG-1007 found the combination formula had a robust effect with statisti- cally significant improvements in signs and symptoms. Charles Bosworth, PhD, Azura Ophthalmics, talked about the company's investigational treatment—AZR-MD-001—for MGD. MGD is primarily caused by hyperkeratinization of the glands with production of excess and abnormal keratin aggregates, Dr. Bosworth said. In a Phase 2 program, AZR-MD-001, a ker- atolytic agent, showed several improvements in signs of MGD, symptoms, and a good safety profile. Riad Sherif, MD, Oculis, described OCS-02, which he said could be the first topical biologic for dry eye disease and anterior uveitis. He said this compound is also being studied with a con- nection to a genotype biomarker. OCS-02 is an anti-TNFα antibody fragment formulation. In a Phase 2a study in patients with severe dry eye, OCS-02 improved symp- toms with a high responder rate, a good safety profile, and a rapid onset of action, Dr. Sherif said. He said that researchers explored eight gene variants related to the mechanism of the TNF path- way and identified a snippet that showed patients who were hy- per-responders to OCS-02. The panelists said that the ability to identify patients who are high responders could be helpful for those who are not finding success on other therapies. Jeffrey Nau, PhD, described several therapies Oyster Point Pharma is developing in the dry eye space. One is OC-01 (va- renicline), which binds to the cholinergic receptors on the tri- geminal nerve in the nasal cavity, stimulating the production of the tear film. Another is OC-101, an enriched tear film gene therapy that targets the lacrimal gland for human nerve growth factor protein expression. Palatin, a company new to the dry eye space with a focus on the melanocortin system and its Innovation in dry eye treatments Dr. Holland serves as moderator of an Eyecelerator session on dry eye innovations with Mr. Dempsey, Dr. Farid, Dr. Fram, and Dr. Mah as panelists. Source: ASCRS

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