Belite Bio, Inc (NASDAQ: BLTE) shares fell backwards Friday. The San Diego-based Belite, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical drug development company focused on advancing novel therapeutics targeting degenerative retinal diseases that have significant unmet medical needs, today announces its submission to the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) to initiate a clinical trial of Tinlarebant in adolescent STGD1 in Japan.
The DRAGON II trial is a combination of Phase 1b open-label study to evaluate the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of Tinlarebant in Japanese adolescent STGD1 subjects and a Phase 2/3, global, multicenter, double-masked, placebo-controlled, randomized study designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of Tinlarebant in adolescent STGD1 subjects. Approximately 60 subjects, aged 12 to 20 years old, including approximately 10 Japanese subjects, are targeted for enrollment in the Phase 2/3 portion of the trial with a 1:1 randomization (tinlarebant:placebo). The data from Japanese subjects is intended to facilitate future NDA applications in Japan.
Tinlarebant is a novel oral therapy that is intended to reduce the accumulation of vitamin A-based toxins (known as bisretinoids) that cause retinal disease in STGD1 and also contribute to disease progression in GA, or advanced Dry AMD. Bisretinoids are by-products of the visual cycle, which is dependent on the supply of vitamin A (retinol) to the eye. Tinlarebant works by reducing and maintaining levels of serum retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4), the sole carrier protein for retinol transport from the liver to the eye.
BLTE shares lost 22 cents to $43.55.
