Belite Bio Shares Drop 12% After IND Submitted for LBS-008 Vision Treatment

By Chris Wack

Belite Bio Inc. shares were down 12% to $38.61 after the biopharmaceutical company said it submitted an investigational new drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to support Phase 3 development of LBS-008.

LBS-008 is the company's orally administered treatment for Stargardt Disease, or STGD1, a rare genetic eye disease that causes progressive vision loss in children and adults. LBS-008 is a small molecule retinol binding protein 4 antagonist that selectively reduces the delivery of vitamin A to the eye leading to a reduction of toxic vitamin A byproducts that have been implicated in the onset and progression of STGD1.

Sponsored by the NIH Blueprint program to treat non-neovascular age-related macular degeneration, LBS-008 is also endorsed by NIH as a promising first-in-class oral medication intended to slow or halt the progression of dry AMD, a disease which primarily affects the elderly and shares a similar pathophysiology as STGD1.

Write to Chris Wack at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-20-22 1108ET