Déjà vu: Aerie Announces Mercury 2 Results, Stock Jumps

Déjà vu: Aerie Announces Mercury 2 Results, Stock Jumps

With the recent report of successful top-line Phase III results of its fixed-dose glaucoma candidate Roclatan, Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc. has seen its stock price soar into rarified air, reaching an all-time high above $55, about 38% higher than before the announcement – and even those pre-announcement prices were in record territory for the stock. If…

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Dry Eye Newbie Xiidra Grabs Large Market Share

Dry Eye Newbie Xiidra Grabs Large Market Share

During the run-up to the launch of Shire’s dry eye drug Xiidra (lifitegrast), it seemed as though everyone was wondering what kind of threat – if any – it would pose to Allergan’s Restasis (topical cyclosporine 0.05%). With an estimated 30 million dry eye sufferers and only 1 million or so on prescription treatment, many…

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Roche/Genentech’s Second Move to Protect Lucentis Franchise

With its patents on Lucentis set to expire in a few years and clinical trials of at least three Lucentis biosimilars underway, Roche’s recent acquisition of ForSight VISION4 is seen by many as the latest strategic move to protect its Lucentis franchise for the foreseeable future. The ForSight VISION4 acquisition gives Roche and its subsidiary,…

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ForSight Reports on Phase II Bimatoprost Ring Results

Phase II results of ForSight Vision5’s bimatoprost ocular ring insert have shown the ring achieves clinically significant reductions in intraocular pressure (IOP) over six months with an acceptable level of safety and tolerability, principal investigator James D. Brandt, MD, reported at OIS@ASCRS. The results were just published online in the journal Ophthalmology. The bimatoprost ring…

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Goggles Target Pressure Differentials in Glaucoma

The idea for Equinox, and the first non-surgical, non-drug treatment for glaucoma, came to John Berdahl, MD, while he and his wife were scuba diving. People with high intraocular pressure (IOP) could wear the company’s Balance Goggles overnight to alleviate pressure on and around the optic nerve. Dr. Berdahl, Equinox founder and CEO, reported on…

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Imprimis’ Baum On Disrupting Compound Pharmacies

OIS Podcast

[creativ_pullleft colour=”light-gray” colour_custom=”” text=”Episode 056″] Imprimis Pharmaceuticals is disrupting the compound pharmaceutical industry, a segment of health care that’s undergoing significant regulatory upheaval. The company’s line of ophthalmology drugs could reduce or eliminate the need for post-surgical eye drops. Its approach is drawing support from many, including Dr. Richard Lindstrom, who serves on the company’s…

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Newer glaucoma medication classes about to be a reality?

While our podcast this week examines the rise of Glaukos and the MIGs market, contributor Michelle Dalton presents a State of the Glaucoma Drugs address. With no new classes of drugs to treat glaucoma introduced since the mid-1990s, clinicians and Wall Street are waiting for the next “big thing” to hit the market. Reuters places…

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Q&A with Shire’s Robert Dempsey

Q&A with Shire’s Robert Dempsey

Shire this week announced plans to acquire Foresight Biotherapeutics for $300 million. Robert Dempsey, Shire’s vice president and head of the company’s ophthalmic unit, kindly agreed to answer a few questions about Shire’s push into ophthalmology. In 2013, Shire acquired SARCode and suggested an FDA submission for lifitegrast as a treatment for Dry Eye might…

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InnFocus

The MicroShunt has just completed enrollment (n=75) in a pivotal study, and is the only device to be directly compared to trabeculectomy. The device has been used in humans for more than 12 years outside the U.S., with mean postop pressures below 14 mmHg. The pressure reduction seen at 3 months holds through 3 years.…

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Plenary Talk: Valeant’s Approach to Innovation

Valeant Pharmaceuticals is undergoing increased scrutiny. A year ago, J. Michael Pearson, then president and CEO, laid out the company’s vision for developing new tools in ophthalmology. Presenter: J. Michael Pearson Mr. Pearson has been the CEO and serving on the Board since September 2010 and the Chairman of the Board since March 2011. View…

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Lifitegrast Heads Up Promising Dry Eye Pipeline

For more than a decade, there has only been one approved pharmacologic treatment for dry eye—Allergan’s Restasis (topical cyclosporine 0.05%). This in a market estimated to be worth more than $2.4 billion, one that affects up to 100 million people worldwide, and one that is expected to grow by almost 3% yearly. Dry eye products…

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