Strong data for iSONEP in AMD mouse model

Lpath says that its sphingosine-1-phosphate antibody, iSONEP, almost completely mitigated the choroidal neo-vascular lesions produced by laser-induced choroidal damage in a mouse model, which mimics the pathologic neovascularization experienced by patients with wet age-related macular degeneration.

Both the murine and humanized forms of the anti-S1P antibody were effective in nearly eliminating the lesions, noted the US drug developer.

Published on-line in the Journal of Experimental Eye Disease, the findings also revealed sub-retinal fibrosis was reduced in the lesions. This ability of iSONEP to mitigate fibrotic lesions was consistent with a companion study which found that S1P, the molecular target of iSONEP, not only was produced by ocular cells, but in fact acted on those cells to promote fibrotic responses responsible for scarring.