Ophthotech craters after Phase III AMD failure

Ophthotech Corp. (NASDAQ:OPHT) lost $33.48 (86%) to $5.29 on Monday after it said Fovista pegpleranib missed the primary endpoints in the Phase III OPH1002 and OPH1003 trials to treat wet age-related macular degeneration.

In both studies, Fovista plus Lucentis ranibizumab failed to significantly improve mean change in visual acuity from baseline to month 12 vs. Lucentis monotherapy (p=0.44 and p=0.71, respectively). Visual acuity was measured by the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) standardized chart. Among the studies' combined 1,248 patients, pooled data showed the Fovista combo led to a mean gain of 10.24 letters vs. 10.01 for Lucentis alone...