Alkahest’s AKST4290 improves visual acuity in Phase IIa for AMD

Alkahest said AKST4290 led to a mean improvement of 7 letters in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) as measured by the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) eye chart from baseline to week six in the Phase IIa ALK4290-201 trial to treat wet or neovascular age-related macular degeneration in treatment-naïve patients. AKST4290 is a small molecule CC chemokine receptor 3 (CCR3; CD193) inhibitor.

The open-label, Hungarian trial enrolled 29 patients to receive twice-daily 400 mg oral AKST4290 (formerly ALK4290). Alkahest Inc. (San Carlos, Calif.) also said 83% of patients maintained or improved their visual acuity, and 21% of patients gained at least 15 letters in BCVA...