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Baird said it thinks recent weakness in Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) shares is “overdone” and remains bullish on the company’s opportunity in wet AMD.
The investment firm noted that recently released results from the Phase 1 Helios study of Axpaxli in non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, or NPDR, showed no notable safety issues. It added that Ocular management has stressed the trial was designed to be a small safety study.
“Overall, we think the efficacy missed investor expectations, but the small size of the study makes interpreting the data challenging,” said Baird in a note released Friday. “One patient in either direction has a big impact when there are only 13 patients.”
Baird said that given the small size of the Phase 1 trial and “relatively low responder rate,” it may be “challenging to power a Phase 3 study on the historic primary endpoint.”
Despite that, Baird believes it’s possible the FDA “could work with Ocular to design a different path forward, though we await clarity on the outcome of planned FDA discussions.”
The investment firm also noted that rival EyePoint (EYPT) is expected to report Phase 2 data on its drug candidate for NPDR in Q2, adding that positive data “would be positive for Axpaxli.”
Baird maintained its outperform rating on the stock with a price target of $18.
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