Iconic Eyes Phase IIb for Lead Candidate in 2018

Iconic Therapeutics is looking to take a significant step in ophthalmology in 2018, William Greene, MD, CEO, said during the Company Showcase 3 session at OIS@AAO 2017, by initiating a Phase IIb trial of its lead candidate, ICON-1, for treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). ICON-1 targets tissue factor, which drives inflammation and angiogenesis in AMD, which may be a “potentially more permanent solution,” Dr. Greene suggested. “This is an opportunity to turn back the clock on the disease,” he said. He noted the EMERGE Phase IIa trial demonstrated the benefit of ICON-1 plus Lucentis (ranibizumab, Roche/Genentech) in halting choroidal neovascularization versus Lucentis alone, and had no serious adverse events. Data so far support that a 0.6-mg dose of ICON-1 is comparable to Eylea (aflibercept, Regeneron) in reducing lesion size at 14 days, Dr. Greene added.