VEGF Trap-Eye reduces AMD retinal thickness

German drugmaker Bayer HealthCare has reported positive results from a Phase II study evaluating its VEGF Trap-Eye in the neovascular form of age-related macular degeneration, one of the leading causes of blindness in adults.

The agent, which is being co-developed with the USA's Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, met its primary endpoint of a statistically-significant reduction in retinal thickness, as well as meeting the key secondary endpoint of visual acuity after 12 weeks.

In this double-blind, 157-patient, prospective, randomized, multicenter Phase II trial, the mean change from baseline in visual acuity demonstrated a statically-significant improvement - all groups combined showed an increase of 5.7 letters (p<0.0001). Meanwhile, retinal thickness, which includes the findings from all five dose groups, fell 119 microns (p>0.0001).