LUCIA, EyePoint's second pivotal trial of DURAVYU in wet age-related macular degeneration, did not show non-inferiority to aflibercept. The company is ending its wet AMD trials early, cutting about 53% of its workforce and refocusing on diabetic macular edema, where two Phase 3 trials report in late 2027. Shares fell about 86%, to a market value near $36 million against roughly $118 million of cash.
A second failed trial has turned EyePoint into a company the market values well below its bank balance.
EyePoint, Inc. said on Monday that LUCIA, the second pivotal Phase 3 trial of DURAVYU in wet age-related macular degeneration, failed to show that the drug was non-inferior to aflibercept, an established treatment for the disease. The first trial, LUGANO, had also missed in its full dataset, reported on Aug. 17, when the shares fell about 67%.
The board approved a plan to cut about 53% of the workforce and to conclude the pivotal wet AMD trials early. EyePoint will now prioritize DURAVYU in diabetic macular edema, where two Phase 3 trials, COMO and CAPRI, are expected to report topline data in the fourth quarter of 2027.
EyePoint's shares fell about 86% to about 43 cents by early afternoon, on volume of about 148 million shares. That leaves the company with a market value of about $36 million.
The cash arithmetic
EyePoint estimated cash and investments of about $118 million at Sept. 30. That is roughly 3.3 times its market value after Monday's drop, by this publication's arithmetic. The company expects about $9 million of charges from the restructuring and about $30 million of annual savings.
A stock trading at about a third of its cash is a market judgment about what that cash will be spent on. The remaining value now rides on two trials that will not report until the fourth quarter of 2027, funded from a balance sheet that has to last until then.
Why non-inferiority was the bar
In wet macular degeneration, effective drugs already exist. A new entrant does not need to beat them; it needs to show it works about as well while offering another advantage, such as fewer injections. Missing that bar against aflibercept twice removes the wet AMD commercial case, because doctors have little reason to switch to a drug that has not matched the standard.
Diabetic macular edema is a separate indication with its own trials, which is why DURAVYU remains the company's lead product candidate.
The read-across
Other retinal drug developers moved in different directions. Ocular Therapeutix fell about 7.7%, while Kodiak Sciences rose about 6% and Regenxbio about 2.5%. The split suggests investors are judging each program on its own design rather than treating EyePoint's result as a verdict on the whole approach.
Market implications
One reading is that the selloff overshoots. If the company preserves most of its $118 million through the 2027 readouts, the equity is priced as if the DME program has little value, and a positive result would be cheap optionality.
A second reading is that the discount is rational. Two wet AMD failures raise doubts about the drug in DME too, the cash must fund two Phase 3 trials until late 2027, and any shortfall would require new equity at a depressed price.
What to watch
EyePoint's quarterly cash burn after the restructuring; progress in the COMO and CAPRI trials; the full LUCIA data; and any partnership interest in DURAVYU. A cash balance holding near $100 million into 2027 would support the first reading.