SnET2 benefits some AMD patients at 2 years

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Long-term SnET2 photodynamic therapy was significantly better than placebo in preserving vision in some patients with wet age-related macular degeneration, according to subgroup analysis of a phase 3 clinical trial.

Miravant Technologies, developer of SnET2, has identified two subsets of patients who might benefit from the drug, even though overall results of a phase 3 trial failed to show statistical significance for the primary endpoint.

Three sessions of photodynamic therapy (PDT) with a low dose of SnET2 over a 2-year period demonstrated statistically significant preservation of stable vision over placebo treatment, according to a press release from the company.

During the phase 3 trial, patients were administered either a 0.5 mg/kg or 0.75 mg/kg dose of SnET2 in PDT for the treatment of subfoveal choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Certain subsets of patients demonstrated stabilized or improved visual acuity at 2 years, according to Miravant.

Of patients who received all three treatments at the lower dose, 65.6% maintained stable vision, compared with 39.3% of patients who received three placebo treatments. Also, in a small subset of occult-only CNV patients, 67.7% treated at the lower drug dose sustained stable vision, compared with 40% of placebo patients.

Miravant plans to present this data to the Food and Drug Administration to seek approval for another phase 3 trial.