Aerpio (ARPO) announced Phase 2 topline glaucoma data last Friday after the market closed. The study failed. It is the reason the company sneakily released the data on a Friday afternoon, when not as many people are paying attention.
What Data Showed
The study assessed ARPO’s drug razuprotafib in 3 arms:
- 1x daily razuprotafib (40mg/ml) in combination with SoC prostaglandin (PGA)
- 2x daily razuprotafib (40mg/ml) in combination with SoC prostaglandin (PGA)
- monotherapy SoC prostaglandin PGA
We believed the data needed to show at least a -1.5mm Hg reduction in ocular pressure measured in millimeters of mercury (mg Hg). Interocular pressure (IOP) is the main risk factor in glaucoma. The higher the IOP, the more likely that vision will be impacted. Read more details on expectations here.
The 2x daily dose of razuprotafic (BID) showed a statistically significant drop from baseline at Day 28, but the drop was only -0.92mm Hg. It came short of the -1.5mm benchmark. Even though the drop was statistically significant against placebo, it is not material enough to be further studied.
The razuprotafib once-daily (“QD”) dose group did not show a statistically significant improvement at Day 28. No safety profile was shared on the press release.
This release was a surprise, especially after ARPO CEO mentioned during their Q3 business update call that data would coincide with “seasonal health care industry conferences that you all are familiar with” (read more here). JP Morgan is coming up, but data was not supportive of the spotflight that the biggest healthcare conference brings. So, instead Aerpio released data after-hours on a Friday.
We’re going to sell the ARPO position at the open in the $1.20 range.
