What happened
Ocular Therapeutix (OCUL -8.10%) is up almost 12% at 3:21 p.m. EDT Thursday after the company reported positive patient experience for its eye insert, Dextenza, Wednesday morning. That's on top of a 6.6% jump Wednesday.
So what
The survey asked 25 patients from the company's phase 3 trial testing Dextenza as a treatment for post-surgical ocular pain and inflammation about their experience with the product. Dextenza is an insert that releases a corticosteroid, dexamethasone, which is typically administered through eye drops. The insert is absorbed by the body so it doesn't need to be removed at the end of the treatment.
Image source: Getty Images.
In the retrospective study, 96% of patients said the insert was extremely convenient or very convenient compared to topical eye drops, which have to be tapered on a schedule. Also, 92% of patients said they would recommend Dextenza to friends or family members.
The FDA has a goal to make a decision about the potential approval of Dextenza by July 19. The agency rejected Ocular's application last year because of manufacturing issues.
Now what
This data isn't going to determine whether Ocular Therapeutix can get Dextenza approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but the fact that patients seems to like the treatment is good news for potential sales. Patient experience in a clinical trial could be different than real-life experiences, but at least Ocular Therapeutix can use this survey during its initial interactions with doctors to convince them to try Dextenza.
A report of positive patient experience probably doesn't justify the share price increase over the last few days. Last month shares were trading higher than they currently are without any news to justify the decline, so the recent increase may have more to do with momentum than the actual data.
