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Surrozen Announces an Oversubscribed $175 Million Private Placement of Securities to Focus on Selective Wnt Mimetic Therapeutics to Treat Serious Eye Diseases
Company prioritizes ophthalmology pipeline programs with potential to provide new or improved treatment options in multiple severe and disabling eye diseases
About this update from Surrozen, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Company prioritizes ophthalmology pipeline programs with potential to provide new or improved treatment options in multiple severe and disabling eye diseases Announces an oversubscribed financing of $175 million in gross proceeds, which funds multiple ophthalmology programs through phase 1 safety, tolerability and efficacy studies Company discontinues clinical development of SZN-043 in severe alcohol associated hepatitis SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Surrozen, Inc. (“Surrozen” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: SRZN), a company pioneering targeted therapeutics that selectively activate the Wnt Pathway for tissue repair and regeneration, today announced that the company will focus its Wnt biology expertise and Wnt signal modulation antibody technologies on its ophthalmology programs including development of new treatment options for retinopathies. The Company also announced a private placement consisting of two tranches in aggregate up to $175 million in gross proceeds to fund multiple ophthalmology programs through initial Phase 1 safety, tolerability and efficacy studies. Modulation of Wnt signaling has the potential to be relevant in a broad range of highly prevalent eye diseases including “wet” and “dry” Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy, Fuchs’ endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD), and non-infectious uveitis as well as certain rare eye diseases like retinitis pigmentosa, Stargardt’s and Familial Exudative Vitreoretinopathy (FEVR). The two lead candidates for the treatment of retinopathies include SZN-8141 (Fzd4/VEGF) and SZN-8143 (Fzd4/VEGF/IL-6). The Company will discontinue development of SZN-043 in severe alcohol associated hepatitis. While treatment with SZN-043 was safe and well-tolerated and demonstrated positive changes in liver function assays, there was not a sufficient early signal of clinical benefit to warrant further investment given the challenges associated with an acutely sick target population and a lengthy clinical development path. “Given the significant progress and potential of our ophthalmology programs, we have decided to focus on our robust ophthalmology pipeline. Importantly, our retinal ophthalmology programs represent novel combinations of clinically validated targets for treating a broad spectrum of serious eye diseases. We look forward to advan...