Phase II Data May Be Good Sign For 8mg Aflibercept, But Will Payers Bite?

There are concerns that even with better efficacy and dosing versus Eylea and biosimilars, payers may impose step-edits on Regeneron’s new high-dose version.

Female eye with long eyelashes close up. Closeup shot of female gray - blue colour eye with day makeup. Beauty female eye with curl long eyelashes — Regeneron announced Phase II data for aflibercept 8mg in wet AMD • Source: Shutterstock

Phase II data for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s high-dose version of aflibercept appear to bode well for a Phase III readout expected later this year and give it a decent shot at competing against other newer drugs for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Still, there is a chance that it could run up against restrictions in insurance coverage, based on concerns that physicians have previously expressed.

The Phase II CANDELA study, presented at the Angiogenesis 2022 meeting on 12 February, met its primary safety endpoint with...