Shidlovsky
Baird said he believes recent weakness in the Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) is “over the top” and remains optimistic about the company’s opportunities in the wet AMD space.
The investment firm noted that results from the Helios Phase 1 study of Axpaxli were recently published Nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy, or NPDR, has not shown notable safety concerns. He added that Ocular management emphasized that the study was designed to be a small safety study.
“Overall, we believe efficacy fell short of investor expectations, but the small size of the study makes the data difficult to interpret,” Baird said in a note published Friday. “One patient both ways has a big impact when there are only 13 patients.”
Baird said that given the small size of the Phase 1 study and the “relatively low response rate,” it may be “difficult to fuel a Phase 3 study on the historical primary endpoint.”
Despite this, Baird believes it is possible that the FDA “could work with Ocular to design a different path forward, although we await clarity on the outcome of the FDA’s planned discussions.”
The investment firm also noted that rival EyePoint (EYPT) is expected to report Phase 2 data on its NPDR drug candidate in the second quarter, adding that positive data “would be positive for Axpaxli.”
Baird maintained an outperform rating on the stock with an $18 price target.