Chordia Therapeutics Nine-Month Operating Loss Narrows to ¥1.07 Billion as Lead Cancer Drug Advances to Expansion Cohort

Chordia Therapeutics, Inc. (TSE: 190A) reported non-consolidated results under J-GAAP for the first nine months (September 1, 2025 – May 31, 2026) of the fiscal year ending August 2026. As a pre-revenue, clinical-stage cancer drug-discovery company, Chordia recorded no product sales. The operating loss narrowed to ¥1,070 million from a ¥1,420 million loss a year earlier, the ordinary loss improved to ¥1,046 million from ¥1,397 million, and the net loss shrank to ¥1,047 million from ¥1,399 million. Net loss per share was ¥14.45, against ¥20.43 the year before.

Lead CLK inhibitor rogocekib enters expansion cohort

The heart of Chordia's story is its lead asset, CTX-712 (international nonproprietary name: rogocekib), a first-in-class, selective oral small-molecule inhibitor of CDC2-like kinase (CLK), a key regulator of RNA splicing. The drug carries FDA Orphan Drug Designation for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and a Phase 1/2 trial in relapsed or refractory AML and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) has been running in the United States since 2023. As of the end of February 2026, dose-escalation data from 42 patients allowed the safety committee to confirm a dose that met the criteria to advance to the expansion cohort. The trial entered that cohort this quarter, with 16 patients enrolled as of the end of May 2026.

The expansion follows the FDA's Project Optimus guidance in two stages — an Initial Expansion of roughly 30 patients followed by an Additional Expansion — to determine the Recommended Phase 2 Dose (RP2D) and the target cancer types. A Phase 2 start is currently expected around mid-2027.

MALT1 inhibitor rights returned; earlier-stage pipeline advances

Chordia's MALT1 inhibitor CTX-177 (INN: ocipumaltib) had been licensed to Ono Pharmaceutical in 2020; Ono ran a Phase 1 study in the US and Japan before notifying Chordia in April 2025 that it would discontinue the trial for strategic reasons. A February 2026 termination agreement returned all worldwide rights and data to Chordia at no cost, and the company is now seeking a new partner. Earlier in the pipeline, Chordia is advancing a CDK12 inhibitor (CTX-439), a GCN2 inhibitor and an undisclosed fifth program, supported in part by grants from Japan's AMED.

Balance sheet, funding and guidance

Total assets stood at ¥2,585 million and net assets at ¥2,333 million, for an equity ratio of 89.9%. Shares outstanding rose to 77,258,400 from 68,988,800 after equity financing during the year. The company pays no dividend. Consistent with a pre-revenue biotech, Chordia's earnings report carries a going-concern note flagging a material uncertainty, and management says it is funding its research and development through equity and grants, including from AMED. Chordia left its full-year guidance unchanged: an operating loss of ¥2,008 million, an ordinary loss of ¥1,958 million, a net loss of ¥1,960 million and a net loss per share of ¥28.41 for the year ending August 2026.

The company describes itself as a "Japan-origin, world-first" research-driven oncology firm focused on unmet-need, first-in-class small molecules, with the goal of growing into a Japan-origin R&D pharmaceutical company by 2030.

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