Hong Kong could be first to get Swiss start-up’s drug for diabetic eye disease

Hong Kong could be one of the first jurisdictions to use a novel treatment for diabetics suffering from a potentially blinding disease if a Swiss start-up’s drug is approved.

OCS-01, an eye drop developed by Oculis Holding and currently under phase 3 trials for diabetic macular edema (DME), can be an alternative to a medication that is injected into the eye, according to Riad Sherif, CEO of the firm, whose shares are listed in the US and Iceland.

The injection is invasive and shunned by many early-stage patients, according to Sherif, a former president for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Alcon, a Swiss-American pharmaceutical and medical device company specialising in eye care.

“Few patients are treated early because they don’t want to have the monthly injections,” he said. “Two-thirds of people with DME globally are not treated [at all].”

Only 60 per cent of DME patients saw improvements after receiving the injections, he added.