ACUITY PHARMACEUTICALS INITIATES TRIAL OF CAND5

Acuity Pharmaceuticals has initiated its Phase II C.A.R.E clinical program for Cand5, its lead product candidate for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), a leading cause of adult blindness. The trial is testing RNA therapy, an innovative approach based on the powerful gene silencing technology of RNA interference (RNAi).

Cand5's RNAi mechanism silences the genes that promote the overgrowth of blood vessels that lead to vision loss in wet AMD by shutting down the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which has been shown to be the central stimulus in the development of wet AMD. By stopping production of VEGF at the source, Cand5 is expected to have efficacy advantages over other types of therapies for wet AMD, which work by inhibiting VEGF only after it has already been produced in the eye. Acuity's RNAi mechanism also has the potential for safety and administration advantages compared to other approaches, the company said.