Merck's Remigromig Beats Ranibizumab in DME Trial, with Caveats

Merck's investigational tetravalent, tri-specific antibody remigromig (formerly EYE103) met its primary endpoint in the phase 2b/3 BRUNELLO trial for treating diabetic macular edema (DME). The company announced this on September 24, 2026. Remigromig is designed to activate the Wingless-related integration site (Wnt) pathway, involved in repair and maintenance of the blood-retinal barrier.

In the BRUNELLO trial, 984 participants were randomized to receive either 0.5 mg or 0.8 mg of intravitreal remigromig, or 0.5 mg of ranibizumab (Lucentis). The results showed that both doses of remigromig met the primary endpoint of noninferiority to ranibizumab for mean change from baseline in best-corrected visual acuity at week 52.

However, Merck noted that higher rates of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and vitreous hemorrhage were observed in the remigromig arms compared with ranibizumab. The company stated further analyses are underway to characterize these findings.