Macusight's lead product has positive phase 1 results

Union City, CA-MacuSight's lead product candidate, sirolimus, for patients with chronic, clinically significant diabetic macular edemahas shown positive initial results in its phase 1 study.

These findings were presented at the 40th annual meeting of the Retina Society by Mark Blumenkranz, MD, chairmen of MacuSight's scientific advisory board and professor and chairman of the department of ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine.

The study was randomized, open-label and investigators analyzed the safety, tolerability, and biological activity of sirolimus when delivered by either subconjunctival or intravitreal injection.

Subconjunctival injections, which are less invasive and more convenient, were used instead of the intravitreal injections, which sometimes caused patient discomfort and a risk of serious infection in some patients.

Patients who received the subconjunctival injection had mean improvements in visual acuity of 8.5 and 7.4 letters over baseline, using the standard ETDRS eye chart. Foveal thickness also decreased.

There was no sign of increased IOP or inflammatory response, and MacuSight intends to complete its collection and analysis of all data from this trial and present final findings next year.