Merck reports mixed results for diabetic macular edema drug

The drug met the study’s primary endpoint and was non-inferior to Lucentis, according to the reports.

Merck said adverse events related to proliferative diabetic retinopathy, an eye complication associated with diabetes, occurred in 6.7% and 6.1% of remigromig recipients, depending on the dose, versus 0.9% of patients who received Lucentis. The company said the cases were generally manageable and may reflect natural disease progression. Remigromig was not superior to Lucentis on any secondary study measure. Around 5% of remigromig recipients discontinued treatment, versus 1% in the comparator group. The full results raised questions about the drug’s commercial prospects, Endpoints News reported.