Aphellis falls after mixed results from eye drug trials; rival Iveric soars

IVERIC bio

10/09/2021 12:33

** Drug developer's shares  APLS.O  slump 31.7% to $37.98
premarket - set to open at lowest in 11 months; top loser before
opening bell
    ** APLS on Thursday after hours announced results from two
late-stage trials testing pegcetacoplan in geographic atrophy
(GA); one met main goals while another narrowly missed
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nGNX23SYSt
    ** GA is the last stage of dry age-related macular
degeneration, one of the leading causes of blindness globally;
there are no FDA-approved treatments for GA to date
    ** Co said the injection had a favorable safety profile in
both trials
    ** APLS plans to submit an application for approval of the
treatment in GA to the FDA in H1 2022
    ** Rival Iveric Bio  ISEE.O  surges 43.3% to $12.45
premarket and is one of the top three gainers before opening
bell
    ** ISEE's late-stage trial for its experimental drug
targeting GA had shown positive data last year while results
from a second late-stage are expected in H2 2022  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2PQ3DN
    ** Stifel initiated coverage for ISEE with "buy" rating and
PT of $22; at least three other brokerages raised ISEE's PT
after APLS's results
    ** APLS down ~3% YTD up to Thursday's close; ISEE up ~26%

 (Reporting by Ruhi Soni in Bengaluru;)
 ((Ruhi.Soni@thomsonreuters.com;))