Kala Pharmaceuticals has received a complete response letter (CRL) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the Company’s new drug application (NDA) for KPI-121 0.25% for the temporary relief of the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. The FDA indicated that efficacy data from an additional clinical trial will be needed to support a resubmission.

Kala continues to enroll patients in its ongoing STRIDE 3 (STRIDE – Short Term Relief In Dry Eye) Phase 3 clinical trial, and expects this trial will serve as the basis of its response to the CRL. Kala is targeting topline data from STRIDE 3 by the end of 2019 and resubmission of the NDA during the first half of 2020. The Company believes this resubmission would be subject to a six-month review under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act. Kala initiated STRIDE 3 in July 2018 at the recommendation of the FDA. The STRIDE 3 trial design reflects specific modifications to the inclusion and exclusion criteria of Kala’s previous trials of KPI-121 0.25%, which were implemented to improve the probability of success.

"We remain confident in the potential of KPI-121 0.25% to be the first approved product for the temporary relief of the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease," said Kim Brazzell, Chief Medical Officer of Kala Pharmaceuticals. "We look forward to reporting data from STRIDE 3 and resubmitting the NDA with the goal of obtaining approval and being able to offer KPI-121 0.25% to the millions of patients with dry eye disease."

The STRIDE 3 trial is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-arm study, comparing KPI-121 0.25% to vehicle (placebo), each dosed four times a day (QID) for two weeks in approximately 900 patients with dry eye disease. Subjects who meet initial screening and inclusion/exclusion criteria undergo a two-week run-in period with vehicle. Subjects who continue to meet inclusion/exclusion criteria after the run-in are randomized to receive either KPI-121 0.25% or vehicle for two weeks.

The NDA for KPI-121 0.25% included data from one Phase 2 and two Phase 3 efficacy and safety trials, STRIDE 1 and STRIDE 2, studying approximately 2,000 patients with dry eye disease.

Kala is developing KPI-121 0.25% for the temporary relief of the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease utilizing a two-week course of therapy. Dry eye disease is a chronic, episodic, multifactorial disease affecting the tears and ocular surface and can involve tear film instability, inflammation, discomfort, visual disturbance and ocular surface damage. KPI-121 0.25% utilizes Kala's AMPPLIFY™ mucus-penetrating particle (MPP) Drug Delivery Technology to enhance penetration of loteprednol etabonate (LE) into target tissue of the eye. Kala has completed one Phase 2 and two Phase 3 clinical trials, STRIDE 1 and STRIDE 2 (STRIDE - Short Term Relief In Dry Eye), of KPI-121 0.25%. A third Phase 3 study, STRIDE 3, is currently ongoing and Kala is targeting topline data by the end of 2019. Kala believes that KPI-121 0.25%'s broad mechanism of action, rapid onset of relief of both signs and symptoms, favorable tolerability and safety profile and the potential to be complementary to existing therapies, could result in a favorable profile for the management of dry eye flares and other dry eye associated conditions.

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