Merck's Diabetes-Related Blindness Drug Matches Roche's in Trial

Merck & Co. Inc. announced topline results from its pivotal Phase 2b/3 BRUNELLO trial in adults with diabetic macular edema (DME). DME is a serious eye complication of diabetes where high blood sugar damages tiny retinal blood vessels, causing them to leak fluid into the macula and making it swell.

The company's investigational drug, remigromig (MK-3000), targets the Wingless-related integration site (Wnt) pathway involved in repairing and maintaining the blood-retinal barrier. At 52 weeks, both doses of remigromig demonstrated non-inferiority to active control Lucentis (ranibizumab) from Roche Holding AG's unit Genentech for mean change from baseline in best-corrected visual acuity in patients with DME.

The results also showed higher rates of proliferative diabetic retinopathy, vitreous hemorrhage, and treatment discontinuations due to adverse events were observed in the remigromig treatment arms compared with ranibizumab. The company stated that further analyses are underway to characterize these findings.