Reneuron crashes out of retinitis pigmentosa

Reneuron had hoped to reinvent itself as a retinitis pigmentosa player, backed by phase 2 data in a handful of patients. Now this chapter of the company’s history has come to a sorry end, after disappointing results in more subjects spurred the group to deprioritise its human retinal progenitor cells (hRPCs). Seven patients treated with a high dose of two million cells had “very limited efficacy”, while surgical complications also caused concern. Signs are not great for the low dose, one million cells, either: the group had previously disclosed a 9.9-letter improvement in visual acuity among seven evaluable patients at one year, but said today that the effect waned thereafter. Reneuron believes that a new phase 2 trial of the low dose could pinpoint subgroups of patients with a higher and more durable response, but is looking to license the asset out. Whether anyone will bite is another matter, although Jcyte signed a $50m ex-US deal with Santen in 2020 despite its stem cell project, jCell, flunking a phase 2b study. Jcyte says it has found a suitable population for its pivotal trial. Reneuron, meanwhile, will focus on its exosome technology, but unimpressed investors sent its stock down 38% this morning.