Shares of Quoin Pharmaceuticals Ltd (NASDAQ:QNRX) surged 66% in premarket trading Tuesday after the biopharmaceutical company announced it had successfully achieved its target loading concentrations for two of its topical rapamycin delivery platforms.
The late-stage specialty pharma firm said it reached a 4% w/w rapamycin concentration for its proprietary topical cream and an even higher 5% w/w concentration for its dermal patch system. Quoin plans to produce clinical trial and stability batches from at least one of these delivery technologies this quarter, with clinical studies expected to begin in the first half of 2026.
The company said it is initially targeting Microcystic Lymphatic Malformations (MLM) and Venous Malformations (VM) — two rare conditions that currently have no FDA-approved therapies or cures.
“We believe that rapamycin loading concentrations of 4% and 5% in these proprietary delivery systems could potentially provide competitive advantages over other topical rapamycin formulations currently in development with similar drug loadings due to the ability of our technologies to optimize delivery of the drug at the target sites,” said Dr. Michael Myers, Chief Executive Officer of Quoin.
The company described these new programs as strategic additions to its existing pipeline, which includes a late-stage study in Netherton Syndrome and another in Peeling Skin Syndrome. Quoin recently completed a capital raise, providing the resources needed to finalize its Netherton Syndrome trials and advance its broader clinical development efforts.