Squalamine shows promising results in early trials

Preliminary clinical results of an open-label study of squalamine for treatment of choroidal neovascularization in age-related macular degeneration show the compound to be well-tolerated and effective, according to the drug’s developer.

Genaera Corp. said in a press release that preliminary results from a multicenter open-label phase 2 clinical trial of six patients treated with 40 mg of squalamine demonstrated that 100% of eyes had preserved or improved vision at week 3 (after two doses of the compound) and at week 5 (end of dosing), as well as at 2 months after therapy initiation.

The greatest degree of improvement was at 2 months, a gain relative to baseline of 5.6 lines of visual acuity on the Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study eye chart; the greatest degree of loss was 11 letters.

According to company information, squalamine is “a unique first-in-class synthetic small molecule administered systemically that directly interrupts and reverses multiple facets of the angiogenic process.”

The company expects to start phase 3 trials later this year and plans to present results from the phase 2 trial at the upcoming Macula Society Meeting in February.