Ocular Therapeutix is on track to become one of just two local biotech firms whose value hasn’t fallen since the start of the year this morning, after its stock shot up more than 50 percent on good news from the FDA on its planned drug trial.
The Bedford-based company (Nasdaq: OCUL) announced yesterday after the close of markets that the Food and Drug Administration has given its blessing for a late-stage trial that will compare the company’s insert for sustained-release of travoprost (a drug now used to lower eye pressure) to treat eye disease to a placebo rather than another drug called timolol. That means it’s more likely the company’s drug, called OTX-TP, will show statistically-significant improvement. With two Phase 3 trials of OTX-TP, versus placebo now set to begin in late summer or early fall, investors appear confident it will show it works better than a placebo in patients with glaucoma and ocular hypertension.
