Abeona Therapeutics Inc. announced that it has received Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval from Stanford University to commence the VIITAL™ study, the Company’s pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating EB-101 for the treatment of recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB). The majority of patients targeted for enrollment have completed the pre-screening process at Stanford, and the Company expects the first patient in the VIITAL™ study to be treated in the first quarter of 2020. The VIITAL™ Phase 3 study is a multi-center, randomized clinical trial assessing EB-101 in up to 15 RDEB patients, with approximately 30 large, chronic wound sites treated in total. The primary study endpoint is the proportion of wounds with greater than 50% healing at three months, comparing treated with untreated wound sites on the same patient. Secondary endpoints include the patient’s global impression of change from baseline in pain as well as other patient reported outcomes assessing pain during dressing changes, pain impact and physical function. Investigators at Stanford University Medical Center are currently enrolling eligible patients into the VIITAL™ study, with additional study sites expected to be added in the coming months. Additional information about the trial is available at abeonatherapeutics.com/clinical-trials/rdeb. Abeona will produce EB-101 for the pivotal VIITAL™ study at the Elisa Linton Center for Rare Disease Therapies, its fully-functional gene and cell therapy manufacturing facility, centrally-located in Cleveland, OH. The center is a 26,000 ft2 facility housing large-scale cGMP capacity and laboratories to support CMC development for process and analytics, all of which is validated and governed by comprehensive quality systems and overseen by experienced staff. The facility is also capable of clinical production of the Company’s AAV gene therapies. About EB-101: EB-101 is an autologous, gene-corrected cell therapy in late-stage clinical development for the treatment of recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), a rare connective tissue disorder without an approved therapy. Treatment with EB-101 involves gene transfer to deliver COL7A1 genes into a patient’s own skin cells (keratinocytes) and transplanting them back to the patient to enable normal Type VII collagen expression and facilitate wound healing. Data from a Phase I/IIa clinical trial conducted by Stanford University evaluating EB-101 showed that the gene-corrected cell therapy provided durable wound healing for RDEB patients lasting several 2+ to 5+ years, including for the largest, most challenging wounds that affect the majority of the RDEB population. In the U.S., Abeona holds Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy, Breakthrough Therapy, and Rare Pediatric designations for EB-101 and Orphan Drug designation in both the U.S. and EU.