Aerie jumps on glaucoma data for fixed-dose combo
Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AERI) jumped $5.95 (28%) to $26.98 on Wednesday after once-daily Roclatan eye drops met the primary endpoint of reducing mean diurnal intraocular pressure (IOP) at day 29 vs. each of its components in a 297-patient, double-blind Phase IIb trial to treat glaucoma or ocular hypertension. Roclatan is a fixed-dose combination of the company's Rhopressa eye drops and latanoprost, a generic prostaglandin analog. Aerie said the trial was designed to show that Roclatan reduced mean diurnal IOP by 1 mmHg or more compared to each of its components.
In the trial, 0.01% Roclatan led to a 1.8 mmHg greater reduction in mean diurnal IOP at day 29 compared to Rhopressa and a 1.1 mmHg greater reduction compared to latanoprost; 0.02% Roclatan led to a 2.6 mmHg greater reduction in mean diurnal IOP at day 29 compared to Rhopressa and a 1.9 mmHg greater reduction compared to latanoprost. ...