NEW YORK, May 22, 2026, 17:02 (EDT)
- Kodiak Sciences ended the week lower, falling 3.2% to $36.23 on Friday after choppy trading.
- There was no fresh company release Friday, with investors still watching for late-stage eye-drug results expected later this year.
- Nasdaq will stay closed Monday for Memorial Day, so the next trading week will be shorter.
Kodiak Sciences Inc. ended Friday down 3.2% at $36.23, giving up some of the previous day’s jump before the U.S. market’s three-day weekend. The retina-drug maker changed hands between $36.01 and $37.75, with 500,620 shares traded, according to LSEG figures posted on the company’s investor site.
Kodiak’s stock is now trading off the outlook for Zenkuda, its experimental eye drug, more than financial numbers. The company’s investor site hadn’t posted any update beyond the May 7 quarterly release as of late Friday.
The stock closed the week under its May 15 finish of $37.02, but it’s still sitting well above pre-March prices. In late March, shares soared 68.6% when Zenkuda hit the primary endpoint in a Phase 3 trial for diabetic retinopathy, Reuters said. The condition, tied to diabetes, harms the retina’s blood vessels and threatens vision.
Kodiak reported this month that in the GLOW2 study, Zenkuda had a 62.5% response rate on the main diabetic-retinopathy measure, compared to 3.3% with sham treatment. Sham treatment here mimics but does not include the active drug. The company also said it looks for one-year results in September from DAYBREAK, its Phase 3 trial in wet age-related macular degeneration, a condition with retina damage from abnormal blood vessels.
Kodiak CEO Victor Perlroth said in the May update the company had “continued momentum and increasing clarity,” adding that 2026 would be a “defining period” for Kodiak. Perlroth said the latest GLOW2 data put Kodiak on track for a multi-indication BLA, or Biologics License Application, with the FDA. PR Newswire
Competition in this space is tough. Regeneron’s Eylea has FDA approval for diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema, and wet AMD. Roche’s Vabysmo is cleared in the U.S. for wet AMD and diabetic macular edema, plus some other uses in retinal disease.
Kodiak now has to show Zenkuda works and that its safety and staying power can break through with doctors who already have established treatments. UBS analyst Michael Yee said in March that good safety data in diabetic retinopathy eased some risk for Kodiak’s wet AMD study. J.P. Morgan’s Anupam Rama told Reuters that strong GLOW2 numbers might boost confidence in Kodiak’s wider drug pipeline.
Kodiak faces a deeper risk behind the stock move. In its May 7 10-Q, the company reported $169.5 million in cash and cash equivalents as of March 31 and said it burned $40.0 million in operating cash during the first quarter. Kodiak also said it might have to raise more capital and flagged “substantial doubt” about staying a going concern.
U.S. stock traders face a short week ahead. According to Nasdaq, markets will shut for Memorial Day on Monday, May 25. Regular trading hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern most days.
