Business
Kiora Pharmaceuticals and Sentrx Animal Care Amend Existing Manufacturing Licensing Agreement for KIO-201
Amendment eliminates $4.75M in near-term milestones Kiora would have owed to Sentrx Sentrx gains access to Kiora's recently issued patents covering the
About this update from Kiora Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\nAmendment eliminates $4.75M in near-term milestones Kiora would have owed to Sentrx\nSentrx gains access to Kiora's recently issued patents covering the combination of KIO-201 and antibiotics for veterinary use\nKiora will receive a royalty on net sales of products covered by licensed patents\n\nEncinitas, California--(Newsfile Corp. - June 15, 2023) - Kiora Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: KPRX) (\"Kiora\") and Sentrx Animal Care (\"Sentrx\") announced today they have amended their existing licensing agreement for patents and technology related to Kiora's KIO-201 product candidate. The amended agreement between the companies eliminates up to $4.75M in near-term financial payments by Kiora to Sentrx that would have been required under the original license agreement signed in 2018; grants Sentrx an exclusive license to certain patents, related to the combination use of the hyaluronic acid technology used in KIO-201 with antibiotics for development and commercialization in the field of animal health; provides Kiora with a low single-digit royalty on Sentrx net sales in animal health of products protected by certain patents owned by Kiora; and maintains Kiora's optionality to source alternative manufacturing partners for KIO-201.\n\"Amending this agreement has been a corporate goal since joining Kiora,\" said Brian Strem, Ph.D., President & CEO of Kiora. \"The new structure benefits both companies. It provides us with greater financial flexibility to invest in our development pipeline, and offers Sentrx access to valuable patented technologies for veterinary use.\"\n\"This agreement strengthens our proprietary position for our pipeline of innovation in the veterinary ophthalmology space,\" said Brian Segebrecht, MBA, President & Chief Executive Officer of Sentrx Animal Care. \"Kiora's patents, including those allowing for antibiotics to be combined with the cross-linked hyaluronic acid technology used in both KIO-201 and our BioHAnce™ products, address an important need for innovation in companion animal eye care.\"\nKIO-201 is a modified form of the natural polymer hyaluronic acid, designed to accelerate corneal wound healing. Kiora is currently developing KIO-201 for the treatment of persistent corneal epithelial defects (PCEDs). PCEDs are a rare disease where a patient's corneal wounds are resistant to standard treatment options...