Opthea receives multi million-dollar tax credit

The refund was awarded to Opthea as a result of R&D costs incurred in the FY2017 and related to work done in both Australia and overseas – primarily on its lead molecule OPT-302.The company received the tax refund as part of the Australian Government’s R&D Tax Incentive program, under which companies receive cash refunds for 43.5% of eligible research and development expenditure. The tax credit announcent was made shortly after Opthea revealed it had commenced its Phase 1b/2a trial, designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of OPT-302 in patients with centre-involved DMO.{{quote-a:r-W:400-I:2-Q: The receipt of $2.7 million represents a significant increase in our resources as we advance OPT-302 through clinical trials. -WHO:Dr Megan Baldwin, Opthea CEO}}Opthea CEO Dr Megan Baldwin said: “The receipt of $2.7 million represents a significant increase in our resources as we advance OPT-302 through clinical trials for the treatment of wet AMD and diabetic macular oeda (DMO).“Together with our Phase 2b clinical trial in wet AMD, this study will enable us to more broadly explore the therapeutic potential of OPT-302, which is well positioned as one of the few combination approaches in development that may address the unmet medical need for patients with these progressive, vision-threatening diseases.”Existing treatments for DMO include VEGF-A inhibitors, steroids and laser therapy, but these do not always prove effective. OPT-302 is designed to overcome this by also blocking VEGF-C and VEGF-D, which cause vessels to grow and leak.The trials will involve the use of OPT-302 in combination with approved VEGF-A inhibitor Eylea in various doses on around 117 patients with persistent central involved DMO. They will be treated with monthly intravitreal injections for three months.Image courtesy: Flickr | National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences