•Ended the quarter with $2900万 in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments plus $180万 in collaboration receivables related to the Company’s Théa Open Innovation (TOI or Théa) partnership.
•Expected runway into 2027, excluding any potential partnership milestones.
“Kiora remains in a strong position with two compelling and innovative drug candidates entering Phase 2 clinical trials and a strong balance sheet to fund development and operations beyond anticipated readouts for both studies,” said Brian m. Strem, Ph.D., President & Chief Executive Officer of Kiora. “During the third quarter, we worked diligently to prepare for these trials, which will increase their likelihood of success.
“Regarding KIO-301, we recently received approval to initiate ABACUS-2, a 36-patient, multi-center, double-masked, randomized, controlled, multi-dose study in patients with ultra-low vision or no light perception due to retinitis pigmentosa. Based on KIO-301’s differentiated mechanism of action as a small molecule, we will enroll patients with any of the known 150-plus underlying gene mutations associated with retinitis pigmentosa. Dosing of the first patient with KIO-301 will begin next year following the completion of the ongoing validation work around functional vision endpoints.
“Following multiple interactions with the FDA and European regulators, retinal specialists, and patient advocacy groups, it’s clear that demonstrating improvement in functional vision is essential for marketing authorization as well as reimbursement. Thus, throughout the third quarter and continuing into the fourth, we’ve invested time to validate functional vision endpoints, increasing the probability of success of ABACUS-2 and a potential Phase 3 study in the US and Europe. This validation work is being performed in collaboration with our partner Théa,得到视网膜脉络膜病研究基金会的额外支持。