The Opthea Ltd (ASX: OPT) share price has rocketed 130% to $2.02 this morning after it reported its OPT-302 combination therapy met the primary endpoint in a Phase 2b clinical trial.
According to the announcement the: "OPT-302 + Lucentis (ranibizumab) combination therapy demonstrated statistically significant vision benefit compared to Lucentis in wet AMD patients at 24 weeks in a trial of 366 patients".
The treatment also apparently passed safety standards with secondary endpoint results also supportive of the primary outcome.
"OPT-302 has the potential to address the unmet medical need of wet AMD and DME patients, many of whom respond sub-optimally or become refractory to existing therapies for these debilitating diseases. We are advancing the clinical development of OPT-302 in Phase 2 wet AMD and DME clinical trial," the biotech notes on its website.
According to its latest regulatory 3B filing the company has 249.4 million shares on issue to give it a market value of $503.8 million today.
The catch is that it posted a net loss of $18.9 million on revenue of just $480,000 for the six months to December 31,2019.
It had net cash on hand of $40.14 million as at December 31, 2019 which is reasonable for a local biotech, but it will face significant clinical trial expenses at the Phase III stage in the mission to try and get its OPT-302 + Lucentis (ranibizumab) combination therapy commercialised.
As such it remains a highly speculative bet alongside the likes of osteoarthritis researcher Paradigm Limited (ASX: PAR).
