GRI Bio, Inc. announced that the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) has issued a Notice of Patent Grant for Patent Application No. 10-2017-7018579 titled, "Prevention and Treatment of Inflammatory Conditions." The issued patent covers claims including compositions and methods for modulating type 2 and/or type 1 invariant NKT (iNKT) cells in the prevention and treatment of inflammatory conditions of the liver. More specifically, when issued the patent will cover the prevention and treatment of inflammatory and fibrotic conditions through the administration of a Retinoic Acid Receptor (RAR) agonist that inhibits iNKT cells and the administration of an RAR agonist that inhibits the activity of iNKT cells in a subject.

GRI Bio is currently advancing its lead program GRI-0621, a small molecule RAR-ß? dual agonist candidate that inhibits the activity of human iNKT cells, in a Phase 2a, randomized, double-blind, multi-center, placebo-controlled, parallel-design, 2-arm study for the treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). IPF is a rare chronic progressive pulmonary disease with abnormal scarring of the lung blocking the movement of oxygen into the bloodstream.

Interim data from the Phase 2a biomarker study is expected in the first half of 2024 and topline results are expected in the second half of 2024.