Prelude Tightens KAT6A Degrader Start to Fourth Quarter

The Tip Desk · August 11, 2026 · 3 min read

Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and marketable securities were $155.2 million as of June 30, 2026, with a runway the company expects to last into the second quarter of 2028.

Prelude Therapeutics Incorporated (PRLD), a clinical-stage precision oncology company, said it now expects to initiate a Phase 1 study of PRT13722, a first-in-class, highly selective oral KAT6A degrader in HR+ breast cancer, in the fourth quarter of 2026, pending IND clearance.

That is a tighter window than the company’s first-quarter update, which said it expected to file the IND by mid-2026, with Phase 1 initiation anticipated in the second half of 2026. Chief Executive Officer Kris Vaddi said the company is “well positioned to initiate, in the fourth quarter, the first clinical trial” of the degrader. Prelude presented preclinical data on PRT13722 at the AACR Annual Meeting 2026.

Enrollment continued in the Phase 1 study of PRT12396, the company’s mutant-selective JAK2V617F inhibitor, in patients with polycythemia vera and myelofibrosis after enrollment began in the first quarter. The program is subject to an exclusive option agreement with Incyte announced in November 2025. Prelude also said it is advancing lead development candidates from its wholly owned mCALR degrader antibody conjugate program.

The quarter’s financials showed a smaller loss and a first recorded revenue line. For the three months ended June 30, 2026, net loss was $13.9 million, or $0.14 a share, compared with $31.2 million, or $0.41 a share, a year earlier. Revenue was $5.704 million, versus zero in the year-ago quarter. Weighted average common shares outstanding, basic and diluted, were 98.39 million.

Research and development expense decreased to $16.1 million from $25.8 million for the prior-year period. The decline was attributed to lower expense on SMARCA2 clinical trials the company paused in 2025, a workforce reduction in the second half of 2025, and lower stock-based compensation of $1.0 million versus $2.2 million. General and administrative expenses decreased to $5.0 million from $6.4 million, primarily due to lower stock-based compensation of $1.0 million versus $1.6 million and lower employee-related expenses.

Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and marketable securities were $155.2 million as of June 30, 2026. The company anticipates that those balances will fund operations into the second quarter of 2028. A year earlier, at December 31, 2025, those balances were $106 million, and the company had described a runway into the second quarter of 2027. The first-quarter update had tied the extended runway to a previously announced underwritten offering with gross proceeds of $90 million.

On the balance sheet, cash and cash equivalents were $26.3 million and marketable securities were $125.4 million at June 30, 2026. Current deferred revenue was $25.2 million. Stockholders’ equity was $133.7 million.

KAT6 is an emerging and recently validated target in HR+ breast cancer, and the company is developing first-in-class, highly potent, highly selective and orally bioavailable KAT6A-selective degraders. Selectively degrading KAT6A has the potential for improved efficacy, tolerability and combinability relative to non-selective inhibitors of KAT6A/B. JAK2V617F is the primary driver mutation in the majority of patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms, affecting about 95% of patients with PV, 60% with essential thrombocythemia and 55% with MF. Mutant CALR is found in approximately 25–35% of patients with MF and ET.

In April 2026, the company appointed Charles Morris, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer. Vaddi said the first six months of 2026 were highlighted by steady execution and considerable progress on the three core programs.