ARVO 2024: Baruch Kuppermann, MD, PhD, discusses durability of a pan-VEGF tyrosine kinase inhibitor

At this year's ARVO meeting, the Eye Care Network spoke with Barry Kuppermann, MD, PhD, about his poster presentation. Here, he speaks about the world of wet age-related macular degeneration and extending durability of a pan-VEGF tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

Editor's note: The below transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Barry Kuppermann, MD, PhD: Hi, I'm Barry Kuppermann, director of the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute at the University of California Irvine. I'm here at ARVO Seattle 2024. [I'll] be presenting a poster coming up tomorrow on the EyePoint technology. That's a biodegradable polymer that stores and releases vorolanib, which is a pan-VEGF tyrosine kinase inhibitor. And we're showing some data about its pharmacokinetics, its efficacy over time. It's a summary of some of the DAVIO results, but as well as the impressive PK results. The hope is that this sort of technology to be used for the treatment of various conditions, in particular, wet age-related macular degeneration, with injections every 6 months or so, extending our durability of effect from the other anti-VEGF blockers that we have been using for so many years.

So it's an interesting product and interesting company, again, EyePoint is a company that's developed drug delivery systems for decades now, the original Vitracert and Reticert all came from them, as did the Iluvien and the Yutiq. Again, it's a company with a long-established tradition, but this is a biodegradable implant again, different from their other implants. And it's releasing a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, vorolanib, a pan-VEGF blocker for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration. The advantage of this sort of technology is the durability of the effect. We hope to mirror the very impressive results that the regular biologic, anti-VEGF agents use, this again as a TKI, but in a drug delivery system, so it can be delete released over a 6-month plus period of time. The hope being that it will be much more efficient for our patients in terms of their timing, that they could typically get 6 months plus durability, instead of the rare events that we occasionally get some patients extended out to 6 months, not very typical. Again, our target is usually 12 to 16 months with anti-VEGF agents, but this one will be more of a 6-month agent.

While the study is underway, we're still going to develop a phase 3, phase 3 study will be developed and will be enrolled. But the hope is that those pivotal trials will lead to its approval, working in concert with the FDA, and this will be a new advantage, a new opportunity for our patients. But again, still the trial to come and data to be an analysed, and hopefully all will work out.

I'm a consultant, I'm a consultant to EyePoint. I'm a consultant a variety of companies including both Eyepoint and many of its competitors.