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Neurotech’s macular telangiectasia treatment sees positive phase 2 results
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A phase 2 trial of NT-501 found the therapy had a beneficial effect in patients with macular telangiectasia type 2, according to a press release from Neurotech Pharmaceuticals.
Patients in the multicenter, randomized clinical trial had a statistically significant reduction in the progressive loss of photoreceptors in treated vs. untreated eyes at 24 months, the release said.
NT-501 uses an encapsulated cell therapy platform that can be customized to deliver specific therapeutic molecules to the back of the eye. Subjects in the trial received either a NT-501 implant with ciliary neurotrophic factor or a sham procedure. In those who received NT-501, the area of ellipsoid zone break increased 0.148 mm2 compared with 0.213 mm2 in untreated eyes.
“NT-501 appears to slow the rate of progression of the disease, and if additional studies replicate the phase 2 data, this therapy has the potential to become the first treatment available for [macular telangiectasia],” Martin Friedlander, MD, PhD, president of the Lowy Medical Research Institute, said in the release.
Neurotech plans to initiate a phase 3 program of the therapy by the end of the year, Richard Small, chief operating officer of Neurotech, said in the release.