Kodiak Sciences scraps development of eye drug (updated)

Kodiak Sciences

24/07/2023 13:16

(Rewrites throughout to add CEO comments and more details of
the study)
       July 24 (Reuters) - Kodiak Sciences  KOD.O  will abandon
further development of its lead drug to treat a type of eye
disease after it failed in two late-stage studies, the company
said on Monday, sending its shares tumbling more than 50% in
premarket trading.
    Shares of the company, valued at $381.68 million as of
Friday's close, were last down 55% at $3.26 before the bell.
    The decision comes after the company failed to improve
vision in two late-stage studies testing its drug, tarcocimab
tedromer, against diabetic macular edema (DME) — the most common
diabetes-related cause of vision loss.
    The drug also led to higher, "unforeseen" incidence of
cataracts over time in patients enrolled in the studies,
Kodiak's Chief Executive Officer, Victor Perlroth, said in a
statement. "We believe this likely was the primary driver for
tarcocimab failing to achieve" the main goal in these studies.
    The patients were randomized to receive either tarcocimab or
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals'  REGN.O  Eylea and evaluated for
their visual acuity, or the eye's ability to distinguish shapes
and the details of objects at a given distance.
    Tarcocimab failed to show non-inferior visual acuity
compared to Eylea, California-based Kodiak said.
    The drug had earlier failed to match Eylea in improving the
vision in a mid-to-late-stage trial in patients with wet
age-related macular degeneration, a chronic eye disorder that
causes blurred vision or blind spots.
    Kodiak's pipeline also has another drug candidate, KSI-501, 
in early-stage trials to treat DME.
                    

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Kodiak Sciences sheds market cap as lead drug prospects dim    https://tmsnrt.rs/3Y37Ifw
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 (Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi
Majumdar)
 ((Mariam.ESunny@thomsonreuters.com;))