ASX Health Stocks: Opthea presents data at renowned conference; Osprey slashes workforce

Opthea presents data at a renowned medical conference
Osprey slashes workforce and is considering fresh cap raise

Opthea presents data at conference

Retinal diseases company Opthea Limited (ASX:OPT) rose by 1% today amongst a sea of reds.

The company announced that its clinical data results were presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2022 Annual Meeting.

Titled “Efficacy and Safety of OPT-302 in combination with Ranibizumab for Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy”, Opthea shared its findings to demonstrate the far-reaching potential of OPT-302.

OPT-302 is Opthea’s lead asset that treats retinal diseases such as wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular oedema.

The same clinical data were presented earlier in February at the 19th annual Angiogenesis, Exudation, and Degeneration 2022 Conference.

Results from Phase 2 have shown that the OPT-302 combination therapy had a safety profile consistent with standard of care (ranibizumab alone), demonstrating that patients receiving OPT-302 combination therapy showed meaningful improvements in vision over those receiving just monotherapy.

Specifically, following OPT-302 combination therapy over the six months of the study, an additional 6.7 letter gain was achieved over ranibizumab monotherapy alone.

A greater proportion of patients gained ≥10 and ≥15 letters from baseline, or achieved 20/40 vision or better, while fewer participants lost five letters or more of vision.

OPT-302 is currently being progressed in a Phase 3 clinical trial.

Opthea share price today:

Osprey slashes staff

Under voluntary trading suspension since Tuesday, Osprey Medical (ASX:OSP) announced today that it was reducing its workforce across all areas, effective today (US time).

The company had announced previously that it was evaluating strategic and funding options, including a possible sale of assets.

In the last quarter, Osprey delivered revenue of just US$363k, on the back of 1,125 unit sales of its monitoring device that reduces CI-AKI (Contrast Induced Acute Kidney Injury).

The device makes heart imaging procedures safer for patients with poor kidney function.

It is believed the company is also considering fresh funding options to bolster its $3.5m cash in the bank reported in the last quarter.