Surrozen, Inc. (Surrozen or the Company) (NASDAQ:SRZN), a biotechnology company pioneering targeted therapeutics to harness the power of Wnt signaling to address the underlying drivers of disease in sight-threatening ophthalmic conditions, today announced the submission of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking to evaluate SZN-8141, a bifunctional Wnt agonist and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antagonist antibody, for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME).

In preclinical studies, SZN-8141 demonstrated superior biological activity in reducing neovascularization and promoting retinal revascularization compared with either Wnt agonist or anti-VEGF monotherapy in a rodent model of retinal vascular disease. SZN-8141 also demonstrated greater reductions in vascular leakage than anti-VEGF therapy in a rodent model of neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

SZN-8141 will be evaluated in a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial in DME called DUET, designed to assess safety, tolerability, and early signs of biological and clinical activity. Surrozen expects to initiate the DUET Phase 1b/2a study in DME patients by year-end 2026, with initial data anticipated in the second half of 2027.