MSD backs Ingenia as sole phase 3 TIE2 eye drug advances in Korea and US - CHOSUNBIZ

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    "url": "https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-science/2026/09/30/XLS72L3XHNHWHB4QOJFVXRP4DM/",
    "title": "MSD backs Ingenia as sole phase 3 TIE2 eye drug advances in Korea and US - CHOSUNBIZ - Chosunbiz",
    "excerpt": "Ingenia Therapeutics's ophthalmic disease drug candidate, which was licensed out to Merck (MSD), has entered phase 3 trials for diabetic macular edema (DME). With the development of a competing candidate recently halted, leaving Ingenia's candidate as the only new drug candidate currently in phase 3, MSD is accelerating development by expanding phase 3 trials for this candidate to a total of four. Ingenia said on the 29th that it received notice from MSD subsidiary iBiotech of achieving a milestone tied to the start of phase 3 and invoiced a $5 million (68 billion won) milestone payment. This is Ingenia's first milestone since its listing on KOSDAQ on Aug. 18. The candidate that has now entered phase 3 was developed by Ingenia under the name \"IGT-427\" and was licensed to iBiotech in Oct. 2022. After MSD acquired iBiotech in 2024, IGT-427 was added to MSD's pipeline and is being developed under the name \"MK-8748.\" In the first half of this year, MSD began two phase 3 trials of the candidate for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (NVAMD). Since July, it has also entered two phase 3 trials for diabetic macular edema. As a result, MSD is conducting a total of four phase 3 trials concurrently with this single candidate. MK-8748 works by directly activating the TIE2 (Tie2) receptor, which is involved in vascular stabilization. This differs from the main mechanism of...",
    "product": "MK-8748",
    "summary": "Merck (MSD) has advanced the ophthalmic drug candidate MK-8748 (formerly IGT-427), licensed from Ingenia Therapeutics, into four concurrent phase 3 trials for diabetic macular edema (DME) and neovascular age-related macular degeneration (NVAMD).",
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      "medical"
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    "published_at": "2026-09-29T21:01:00Z",
    "article_sentence": "With the development of a competing candidate recently halted, leaving Ingenia's candidate as the only new drug candidate currently in phase 3, MSD is accelerating development by expanding phase 3 trials for this candidate to a total of four.",
    "related_company_name": "Ingenia Therapeutics",
    "related_company_domain": "ingeniatx.com"
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