Johnson & Johnson’s gene therapy for a genetic disease that leads to vision loss called X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP) failed a pivotal trial, according to an update to a J&J healthcare provider website.
At one year, the gene therapy, called bota-vec, didn’t meet its primary endpoint in the Phase 3 LUMEOS study, though results were “directionally supportive,” according to the
website
, which appears to have been updated Friday. The primary endpoint measured the change in patients’ ability to navigate through a vision-guided mobility assessment maze.
“We’re working to understand the totality of the data, inclusive of the clinical relevance of improvement shown on the majority of secondary endpoints, as we evaluate strategic options and next steps,” a J&J spokesperson told
Endpoints News
via email.
The Phase 3 study fail comes as large biopharma companies are pulling back from AAV gene therapy work. Vertex became the latest company to stop research on AAV gene therapy, Endpoints
reported
Friday. And Pfizer, Takeda, Roche and Biogen have previously cut back on AAV gene therapy research or clinical programs.
J&J acquired the gene therapy, known as bota-vec,
from MeiraGTx for $65 million upfront in 2023
after previously making licensing deals for three eye disease gene therapies, including bota-vec, from the smaller biotech. The gene therapy delivers functional copies of the
RPGR
gene via viral packages called adeno-associated viruses, or AAVs. That gene is mutated in people with X-linked retinitis pigmentosa, a disease that primarily impacts boys and men.
The Phase 3 study had enrolled 95 participants and split them into three groups: low-dose gene therapy, high-dose gene therapy, or deferred treatment — a group of patients who served as the comparator arm and were meant to receive the gene therapy after the primary endpoint measurement.
A Biogen gene therapy for XLRP
failed
a mid-stage study in 2021. Beacon Therapeutics is studying a gene therapy for the rare eye disease, and last year raised $170 million.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include a statement from a J&J spokesperson.