Kala Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:KALA) shares surge more than 99% on Thursday after the company announced the acceptance of its IND application for KPI-012 initially developed for the treatment of persistent corneal epithelial defect (PCED).
According to the analysts, this is fairly in line with expectations as they anticipated the start of the P2b trial by YE22. Ultimately, the topline data continues to be expected in Q1/24. Importantly, this milestone enabled the completion of the $31 million in gross proceeds from the private placement previously announced with a very well-known healthcare-dedicated fund. Despite their current positioning of viewing the PCED program as an attractive call option, the analysts continue to view the story as undervalued and are reiterating their $37 price target.