Uveitis is an inflammatory disease of the eye. Uveitis can be caused by infections with bacteria, viruses, or fungi, injury to the eye, or as part of an autoimmune disease. It develops when white blood cells invade the eye and release enzymes and inflammatory mediators that cause chronic inflammation. This inflammation causes pain and redness of the eye and can result in loss of vision and blindness.

About 2.3 million people in the United States suffer from uveitis; however, the autoimmune form of the disease is rare, affecting approximately 400,000 people in the U.S. The main treatment for autoimmune uveitis is topical and oral corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs. No cure for autoimmune uveitis has been found.

Merrimack is currently conducting a pilot study of MM-093 in autoimmune uveitis. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase 2 study is being conducted at the Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts under the direction of C. Stephen Foster, MD, a world-renowned expert in uveitis and Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School. The objective of this study is to examine the safety and efficacy of MM-093 in approximately 20 patients with either sarcoid or birdshot uveitis. Patients will discontinue their current therapy for uveitis and be treated with MM-093 or placebo for up to 36 weeks. This study is a flare design where the number of patients whose uveitis relapses after discontinuing the use of their background therapy will be assessed at the end of the study. Patients who experience a flare of uveitis during the study will be retreated with their original therapy. For more information about this study, visit www.clinicaltrials.gov and type "MM-093" in the search box.