Biotech Values

[aslan2772]

Re: REGN/VEGF trap

Scientifically speaking, I think the VEGF trap is an excellent idea and I would not be surprised if it ultimately were found to have efficacy that rivals Lucentis. However, since they are no longer pursuing systemic VEGF Trap for AMD, and are just now in phase 2 for intravitreal VEGF Trap, they have considerable catching up to do and no salient advantage that I am aware of -- perhaps making market entry difficult in the event that efficacy is essentially equivalent to Lucentis. If you or anyone else know of reasons why VEGF Trap might work better than Lucentis, I'd be interested in hearing about it.

Possible examples:
1)Affinity is higher - but I'm not sure ultrahigh affinity is required for maximum efficacy
2)Trap can also bind and trap co-agonists for the receptor, in the event that such agonists exist (conceivably important, but I'm not sure that it really matters here)
3)Retinal penetration, toxicity, and durability of the drug in the eye.