Sept 21 (Reuters) – Beacon Therapeutics said on Monday its experimental gene therapy improved the ability to read in low-light conditions in a late-stage trial on people with a form of inherited eye disease that can cause progressive vision loss.
Here are some details:
• The therapy, laru-zova, was tested as a treatment for X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP), a disease that predominantly affects boys and young men, beginning with night blindness and followed by a narrowing of the peripheral field of vision.
• The 12-month trial evaluated 85 male subjects aged 12 to 48.
• It met its main goal, with a significant proportion of those receiving the therapy improving their ability to read at least 15 additional letters in low-light conditions, while no participants in the untreated control group achieved this improvement.
• XLRP affects about 4 in 100,000 males across the U.S. and Europe, according to National Institutes of Health data. There are currently no approved treatments for the condition.
• “We are now the only company with a study that is read out positively on its primary endpoint within a pivotal phase three study, and so that’s giving us a chronologic advantage,” said CEO Lance Baldo.
• The privately held company said it will hold discussions with global regulatory authorities on a marketing application submission based on these trial results.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh and Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
