Ocular Therapeutix and Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals are developing competing treatments for wet age-related macular degeneration, a common cause of vision loss in older people. Their CEOs don’t particularly like each other. So, with Ocular in a self-imposed quiet period ahead of a crucial clinical trial readout, Eyepoint’s CEO has been doing a lot of trash talking, trying to sink investor confidence in his rival.
At an investor conference in Puerto Rico at the end of January, Jay Duker, Eyepoint’s CEO, expressed doubts about Ocular’s drug, called Axpaxli, and questioned why Ocular management was taking so long to announce results from its Phase 3 study, according to several people with knowledge of Duker’s comments.
One conference attendee told me Duker’s comments were made without evidence, but his insinuation was crystal clear: Ocular’s management team was already in possession of results from the Axpaxli study, called SOL-1, but was delaying a public announcement because the data were negative.
This article is exclusive to STAT+ subscribers
Unlock this article — plus in-depth analysis, newsletters, premium events, and news alerts.
Already have an account? Log in
