Ocuphire Pharma did not meet the primary endpoint in Oral APX3330 trial

Ocuphire Pharma announced topline efficacy and safety results from its ZETA-1 Phase 2 trial evaluating oral APX3330 for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy or DR . "Our goals in this initial retina Phase 2 trial were to explore multiple endpoints to evaluate the potential for APX3330 as the first oral drug to safely benefit diabetic patients with eye disease," said Mina Sooch, MBA, founder and CEO of Ocuphire Pharma. "Although we did not meet the primary endpoint , we are pleased that the ZETA-1 results on key pre-specified endpoints demonstrated positive outcomes with a favorable systemic and ocular safety profile that support our plans to move forward to an End-of-Phase 2 meeting with the FDA. Given the systemic delivery of APX3330, it is important to evaluate its effect on both eyes. APX3330 achieved statistical significance on a key pre-specified secondary endpoint – binocular 3-step or more worsening of DRSS – a clinically meaningful outcome that demonstrates the ability to slow the worsening of this progressive disease and is a potential Phase 3 registration endpoint. With the financial strength provided by our recent global Nyxol license agreement, we have considerable flexibility to design and initiate the pivotal stage of the APX3330 program. We thank the study participants, clinical investigators and their site staffs for participating in the trial."