Ocular Therapeutix books ARVO slot

Ocular Therapeutix said Monday it will use a packed May conference schedule to showcase its retina pipeline, including appearances at ARVO and Retina World Congress. (biospace.com) The company’s first stop is Eyecelerator @ ARVO in Denver on Friday, May 1, where Peter K. Kaiser, the chief development officer, is scheduled to speak from 2:18 to 2:23 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time. (biospace.com) Ocular is also slated for the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology annual meeting in Denver from May 3 to May 7. There, Patricio G. Schlottmann is scheduled to present Phase 3 SOL-1 trial results for intravitreal axitinib hydrogel, also called OTX-TKI, in neovascular age-related macular degeneration on May 5. (biospace.com) (arvo.org) An intravitreal hydrogel is a drug depot placed inside the eye that releases medicine over time, aiming to reduce the cycle of frequent injections used to control wet age-related macular degeneration. Ocular’s candidate is branded AXPAXLI and uses axitinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, to try to keep leaking blood vessels in check longer. (investors.ocutx.com) (ophthalmologytimes.com) That matters because wet age-related macular degeneration is usually treated with repeated anti-VEGF shots, often every one to two months in practice. Ocular is trying to show that a longer-lasting insert can preserve vision with fewer rescue treatments. (ophthalmologytimes.com) (investors.ocutx.com) The company’s May appearances come after Ocular reported positive topline SOL-1 data on February 17. It said AXPAXLI met the primary endpoint at Week 36, with 74.1% of patients maintaining vision versus 55.8% on aflibercept 2 mg, a 17.5% risk difference with p=0.0006. (biospace.com) (stocktitan.net) Ocular also said 65.9% of AXPAXLI patients maintained vision at Week 52 versus 44.2% on aflibercept, with no treatment-related ocular serious adverse events reported in SOL-1. The company has said it plans a New Drug Application submission in wet AMD pending positive results and Food and Drug Administration interactions. (biospace.com) (investors.ocutx.com) Beyond ARVO, Ocular said Kaiser will give another five-minute “Retina Experience Redefined” presentation at Retina World Congress in Fort Lauderdale on May 14, and Dilsher S. Dhoot will present updated OTX-TKI data on May 15. Retina World Congress runs May 14 through May 17. (biospace.com) (retinaworldcongress.org) Pravin U. Dugel, Ocular’s executive chairman, president and chief executive, is also scheduled for investor-facing fireside chats at the Bank of America Health Care Conference on May 12 in Las Vegas and the Stifel Virtual Ophthalmology Forum on May 26. (biospace.com) The near-term test is whether May’s conference circuit turns February’s SOL-1 readout into broader buy-in from retina specialists and investors before Ocular’s planned regulatory filing. (biospace.com 1) (biospace.com 2)