Key Takeaways

  • Kiora Pharmaceuticals licensed South Korean development and commercialization rights for KIO-301 to Chong Kun Dang, receiving $1 million upfront with potential milestone payments and future royalties
  • Kiora expects Chong Kun Dang, Laboratoires Théa, and Senju Pharmaceutical to coordinate around a single global phase 3 trial of KIO-301 in retinitis pigmentosa
  • KIO-301 is designed to restore light sensitivity to retinal ganglion cells through a mutation-agnostic mechanism, potentially allowing its use across multiple inherited retinal diseases

Kiora Pharmaceuticals has licensed development and commercialization rights for KIO-301 in South Korea to Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corporation (CKD), expanding the geographic partnering network for the investigational retinal therapy.

Under the agreement, Kiora will receive a $1 million upfront payment and is eligible for additional development and regulatory milestone payments, as well as royalties on future KIO-301 sales in South Korea. Specific values for the potential milestone payments and royalty rates were not disclosed. CKD, based in Seoul, will be responsible for development and commercialization activities in South Korea.

KIO-301 is a molecular photoswitch being developed initially for retinitis pigmentosa (RP). The therapy is designed to restore light sensitivity to retinal ganglion cells after photoreceptors have degenerated, using an approach that does not depend on the genetic mutation responsible for a patient's disease.

“KIO-301 is a molecular photoswitch designed to restore light sensitivity in degenerated retinal cells through a novel and elegant gene mutation-agnostic mechanism,” Young-Joo Kim, president of CKD, said in a statement.

Kiora said it expects its development and commercialization partners—Laboratoires Théa, Senju Pharmaceutical, and CKD—to coordinate their efforts around a single global Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating KIO-301 in RP.

The latest agreement adds South Korea to Kiora's partnered markets for the program. According to the company, partnerships now cover major markets including the United States, Europe, Japan, China, and South Korea.

With its global KIO-301 partnerships established, Kiora said it plans to focus internal resources on other areas of its pipeline. These include advancing KIO-104 for retinal inflammation and fibrosis, and evaluating the company's ion channel modulators for potential therapeutic applications outside ophthalmology, including epilepsy. Kiora also said it will evaluate potential strategic transactions that could expand its pipeline.

KIO-301's mutation-agnostic mechanism could potentially allow the therapy to address a broader population of patients with inherited retinal degeneration than treatments directed at individual genetic variants.

Although RP is the initial indication under development, Kiora has identified other inherited retinal diseases, including choroideremia and Stargardt disease, as potential applications for the technology.