Kodiak Sciences rises after eye-disease drugs meet trial goals

** Shares of drug developer Kodiak Sciences KOD.O rise 43.9% to $46.56 premarket

** Co says its experimental drugs Zenkuda and tabirafusp-ted met the main goals of a late-stage trial in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration

** Both drugs achieved vision gains at one year that were not inferior to aflibercept, the comparison treatment

** Wet age-related macular degeneration causes abnormal blood vessels to leak beneath the retina and can lead to loss of central vision

** About 54% of Zenkuda patients reached a six-month dosing interval, potentially reducing the number of eye injections needed

** Both drugs showed safety broadly consistent with aflibercept; Kodiak plans further analyses to identify which patients may benefit most from tabirafusp-ted

** Co plans to seek US approval for Zenkuda in Q4 2026, using results from five successful late-stage studies across three retinal diseases

** KOD up 15.7% YTD, as of last close