Omeros up premarket on new eye surgery drug data
Omeros shares rise premarket on new data from study of experimental eye surgery drug OMS302
SEATTLE (AP) -- Shares of drug developer Omeros rose in premarket trading Tuesday after the company reported new data for an experimental eye surgery drug.
The drug is designed to reduce pupil constriction, or miosis, during lens replacement surgery. Omeros said patients treated with its drug rarely had pupil constriction greater than one millimeter, while patients who received a standard treatment often had constriction of three millimeters or more.
Shares of Omeros Corp. closed at $7.48 Monday and gained 77 cents, or 10.3 percent, to $8.25 in trading before the opening bell.
Omeros doesn't have any approved products, and OMS302 is its most advanced experimental drug. It is a combination of two topical medications that are used in lens replacement surgeries for cataracts and other conditions. One component causes pupil dilation and the other is an anti-inflammatory drug intended to reduce pain and irritation after surgery. Regulators in the U.S. and EU are reviewing OMS302 and Omeros hopes to launch the drug next year.
In October, the company received clearance to study its OMS302 in children. It will start those studies in 2014. That decision could give Omeros an extra six months of marketing exclusivity in the U.S.
