Biotech Opthea eyes $80m raise to back retinal disease therapy trials

Biotech Opthea eyes $80m raise to back retinal disease therapy trials

Photo: Perchek Industrie, via Unsplash.

Melbourne-headquartered biotech company Opthea (ASX: OPT) has kicked off an $80 million capital raise to support clinical development of its drug candidate aimed at treating wet AMD (age-related macular degeneration), the most common cause of blindness in people aged over 55.

The raise represents 28 per cent of the current market capitalisation of $280 million for the company, whose shares have fallen in half over the past year as expenditure ramped up to pay for research and development, increasing the number of clinical trial sites and enrolments of patients.

Opthea announced $70 million would come from an accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer, and the remaining $10 million will be from a private placement.

CEO Dr Megan Baldwin, who has held the role for more than a decade, says the capital raise strengthens Opthea’s cash position as the company advances its Sozinibercept (OPT-302) drug candidate through Phase 3 clinical trials.

She says the funding will be combined with funding under a Development Funding Agreement (DFA) with New York-based Carlyle and Abingworth, which has committed US$35 million ($54 million) while its co-investor plans to participate with US$50 million ($77 million).

With this backing, she says Opthea expects to und its operations into the third quarter of calendar year 2024 and through the important clinical milestones of completion of patient recruitment for both its Phase 3 clinical trials, which are currently at 75 per cent enrolment.

The company's proposed drug would be complementary to standard of care, with two clinical trials studying OPT-302's effects on wet AMD in combination with Ranibizumab and Aflibercept.

Earlier this year chairman Jeremy Levin explained in the company's half-year report that wet AMD is a progressive, chronic disease of the central retina and the leading cause of visual impairment in the elderly.

"Progressive vision loss associated with wet AMD contributes to significant healthcare and economic costs globally and greatly impacts ability to perform routine daily activities such as driving and reading," he said.

"The hallmark of wet AMD is choroidal neovascularization, which occurs when abnormal blood vessels grow into the retina, beneath the macula, a region of the retina which is needed for sharp, central vision.

"New blood vessels break through layers of the retinal tissue, leaking fluid, lipids and blood, leading to retina distortion and fibrous scarring, and often rapid loss of vision."

The standard of care currently involves drugs that inhibit the VEGF-A proteins that help regulate the growth of abnormal new blood vessels and choroidal neovascularisation in wet AMD. Two prominent companies that supply these drugs, Lucentis and Eylea, generated combined revenues in excess of US$12 billion ($18.5 billion) in 2021.

"Although VEGF-A inhibitor therapies improve outcomes for many people with wet AMD, a majority of patients exhibit a suboptimal response to currently available therapies that continues to impact quality of life, with further gains in visual acuity necessary for patients to resume routine daily activities," Levin explained.

"As such, there remains a very large clinical and market opportunity for novel therapies that address this high unmet medical need for wet AMD patients."

In the six months to 31 December 2022, Opthea's loss after tax more than doubled to US$77 million ($118 million), due primarily to a large increase in R&D spend which reached US$61 million ($94.2 million) for the six-month period.

Enjoyed this article?

Don't miss out on the knowledge and insights to be gained from our daily news and features.

Subscribe today to unlock unlimited access to in-depth business coverage, expert analysis, and exclusive content across all devices.

Support independent journalism and stay informed with stories that matter to you.

Subscribe now and get 50% off your first year!

SMEs urged to consider business insurance to mitigate financial risks
Partner Content
A single “bad luck” incident could cause financial disaster for many Australian sma...
Advertisement

Related Stories

Bailador tops up investment in volunteer management software scale-up Rosterfy

Bailador tops up investment in volunteer management software scale-up Rosterfy

Privately held shares in global volunteer management platform Roste...

Quantum computing group Q-CTRL secures $87m top-up for a record $167m Series B capital raise

Quantum computing group Q-CTRL secures $87m top-up for a record $167m Series B capital raise

Sydney-based quantum computing group Q-CTRL has expanded its Series...

Lendlease partners with Nippon Steel Kowa Real Estate for $500m build-to rent project at Docklands

Lendlease partners with Nippon Steel Kowa Real Estate for $500m build-to rent project at Docklands

National developer Lendlease (ASX: LLC) and Nippon Steel Kowa Real ...

Federal Court shows Qantas no mercy with $100m fine for selling cancelled flight tickets

Federal Court shows Qantas no mercy with $100m fine for selling cancelled flight tickets

The Federal Court has shown Qantas Airways no mercy for selling tic...