Ocular Therapeutix shares plunge as drug candidate OTX-DP gets mixed results in clinical trial

Shares of Ocular Therapeutix tumbled in after-hours trading Monday after the company said its eye pain and inflammation treatment OTX-DP didn't meet one of its goals in a late-stage clinical trial.

OTX-DP is a hydrogel plug that is inserted into a patient's tear duct, where it can gradually release small amounts of the steroid dexamethasone into the eye. The plug is designed to liquefy after four weeks. The company is testing OTX-DP as a treatment for ocular inflammation and pain after surgery. Ocular Therapeutics said patients who received the implant after cataract surgery in its clinical trial experienced less pain than patients who received a sham implant. However there wasn't a significant difference in inflammation.

The company said it will meet with regulators to discuss results from the study and its next steps.

Ocular Therapeutix Inc. ran two late-stage trials of OTX-DP. It announced results from the other study in March and said the product met both of the major goals of the trial.

Shares of Ocular dropped $10.95, or 29 percent, to $27.35 in late trading. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based company went public in July with an initial public offering that priced at $13 per share. The stock had nearly tripled in value since then.