Quoin Pharmaceuticals Ltd. announced FDA clearance to initiate a second Netherton Syndrome (NS) pivotal clinical study CL-QRX003-002 for QRX003. Quoin's lead product, QRX003, is a topical lotion formulated with a broad-spectrum serine protease inhibitor that has been shown to significantly downregulate the hyperactivity of the kallikreins in the skin responsible for the excessive skin shedding associated with this disease. Clinical data from Quoin's ongoing studies has demonstrated clear evidence of rapid, prolonged and almost complete skin healing following twice-daily application of QRX003 to the treatment areas along with the almost complete elimination of key symptoms such as chronic, debilitating pruritus and has facilitated zero nightly sleep disturbances.
Study CL-QRX003 -002 builds off of positive clinical data generated in Quoin's earlier stage open-label study where QRX003 was applied to the arms and lower legs or approximately 20% of each subject's body surface area (BSA). In this pivotal study, QRX003 will be applied to approximately 12-15 subjects twice daily to at least 80% of each of the subjects' BSA thereby generating substantially more safety and efficacy data per subject and will match how QRX003 is intended to be used if regulatory approval is obtained. Each of the U.S. and international sites has available cohorts of subjects that are ready to participate in both studies facilitating a rapid pace of recruitment which could enable Quoin to achieve its target of fully completing recruitment before the end of First Quarter 2026 and to file an NDA for regulatory approval later in the year.