Krystal Biotech announces first patient dosed in Phase 1/2 trial of KB801

Krystal Biotech (KRYS) announced that the first patient has been dosed in its Phase 1/2 clinical trial, a 2:1 randomized, double-masked, multicenter, placebo-controlled study evaluating KB801 for the treatment of neurotrophic keratitis. KB801 is a redosable eye drop gene therapy in development for the treatment of NK, a degenerative corneal disease characterized by damage or loss of function in the neurons innervating the eye leading to corneal epithelial defects, ulcers, and perforation. LEMERALD-1 is a randomized, double-masked, multicenter, placebo-controlled study evaluating KB801, administered as an eye drop, for the treatment of NK. Up to 27 adults with Stage 2 or Stage 3 NK, as defined by the Mackie criteria, will be enrolled and randomized 2:1 to receive either KB801, at a concentration of 1010 PFU/mL, or placebo topically to the study eye twice weekly for 8 weeks. The primary objective of EMERALD-1 is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of topical ocular administration of KB801 in patients with NK. The secondary objective is evaluation of efficacy based on the proportion of patients with complete durable healing of corneal epithelium at 8 weeks, defined as 0 mm corneal fluorescein staining in the area of the corneal lesion at both week 8 and 0 mm corneal fluorescein staining in the same area at week 10, as assessed by a masked reader. Additional exploratory efficacy measures will include change in corneal lesion size from baseline, each assessed at weeks 4, 6, 8, 10, and 20, as well as evaluations of corneal sensation and patient-reported symptom burden