Surrozen Shifts Focus to Ophthalmology

Surrozen has announced a strategic shift in its pipeline, transitioning its Wnt signaling expertise toward ophthalmology and retinopathy drug development. As part of this transition, the company will discontinue its liver program, including the development of SZN-043 for severe alcohol-associated hepatitis, and redirect resources to advance multiple ophthalmology programs.

$175 Million Private Placement to Fund Ophthalmology Programs

The shift comes alongside a $175 million private placement, which Surrozen will use to fund several ophthalmology programs through initial Phase 1 trials assessing safety, tolerability, and efficacy.

“Given the significant progress and potential of our ophthalmology programs, we have decided to focus on our robust ophthalmology pipeline,” said Craig Parker, President and CEO of Surrozen. “Our retinal ophthalmology programs represent novel combinations of clinically validated targets for treating a broad spectrum of serious eye diseases.”

Targeting a Broad Range of Retinal and Rare Eye Diseases

According to Surrozen, Wnt signaling modulation holds therapeutic potential in a wide range of prevalent and rare ocular diseases, including:

• Wet and dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

• Diabetic retinopathy

• Fuchs’ endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD)

• Noninfectious uveitis

• Rare diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa, Stargardt’s disease, and Familial Exudative Vitreoretinopathy (FEVR)

Lead Ophthalmology Candidates: SZN-8141 and SZN-8143

Surrozen’s ophthalmology pipeline is led by two antibody-based biologic candidates:

SZN-8141

Combines:

• Frizzled 4 (Fzd4) agonism

• Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) antagonism

This dual mechanism may offer advantages over current monotherapies in conditions such as diabetic macular edema (DME) and wet AMD.

SZN-8143

Integrates:

• Fzd4 agonism

• VEGF antagonism

• Interleukin-6 (IL-6) antagonism

This triple-action candidate is being evaluated for potential efficacy in DME, wet AMD, and uveitic macular edema (UME).

Liver Program Discontinued Following SZN-043 Evaluation

The company has also confirmed it will discontinue the development of SZN-043 for severe alcohol-associated hepatitis. While the treatment showed positive liver function changes and was well tolerated, Surrozen stated that it did not deliver a strong enough early signal of clinical benefit. Given the challenges of treating a severely ill population and the long clinical development timeline, further investment was deemed unfeasible.

Collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim Moves Forward

Surrozen will continue to advance its ophthalmology pipeline, including its collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim to develop SZN-413, an additional Wnt-modulating candidate.