What Fovista's Fail Means For OHR Pharma

On September 30, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc REGN announced Phase 2 results for rinucumab, with the drug not meeting the primary endpoint of the study.

On December 12, Ophthotech Corp OPHT announced Phase 3 results for Fovista, which also did not achieve the primary endpoint.

Despite these two failures of high-profile anti-PDGF inhibitor for combination therapy in treating wet AMD, the read-through for OHR Pharmaceutical Inc’s OHRP squalamine is not “completely negative,” H.C. Wainwright’s Corey Davis said in a report.

Reasons For Optimism

Phase 3 data from OHR Pharma’s squalamine is expected by the end of 2017. Davis mentioned the following reasons for not being completely negative:

• OHR Pharma has changed more, going from Phase 2 to Phase 3 than had Ophthotech.
• There are “several mechanistic differentiators,” including an intracellular mechanism versus extracellular for Fovista, inhibits a central pathway at a downstream level versus upstream and squalamine is an eye drop instead of an injection.
• OHR Pharma has the only combination drug in development for wet AMD that is in Phase 3, and it is still available for partnering.

Valuation

“While the market may not have the stomach for another potential AMD combination drug, we think that's already reflected in the current $1.85 stock price. Our near-term view is driven more by our belief that potential partners will be interested in the only active combination therapy in P3,” Davis commented.

The analyst maintained a Buy rating on OHR Pharma, with a price target of $10.