Equillium expects EQ504 Phase 1 start in Q4 2026 and cash into 2029

Equillium, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQ) reported second-quarter 2026 financial results on August 13, 2026, together with a corporate update on EQ504, which it describes as a potent and selective aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) modulator. The company said cash and cash equivalents of $57.2 million as of June 30, 2026 are expected to fund operations into 2029. The release was furnished in an 8-K.

The EQ504 program

Chief Executive Officer Bruce Steel said: "We continue to make meaningful progress advancing EQ504 toward the clinic." He said the colon-targeted formulated product has been manufactured and that the company plans to submit the dossier for the Phase 1 study in Australia imminently. The company expects to start the study in the fourth quarter of 2026 and to report topline data about six months later.

The Phase 1 study is a conventional randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled single and multiple ascending dose study in healthy volunteers. It focuses on safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics to assess proof of mechanism. Subject to supportive Phase 1 data, the company anticipates starting a placebo-controlled study of EQ504 in patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis, using parameters intended to leverage other AhR modulator clinical datasets in ulcerative colitis.

The company describes EQ504 as having a multi-modal, non-immunosuppressive mechanism of action, designed to complement other inflammation and immunology agents. It says the preclinical properties allow targeted, local delivery through enteric coating for ulcerative colitis and other gastrointestinal diseases, or inhaled formulations for inflammatory lung diseases.

Other highlights include IND-enabling development activities for EQ504 as a potential inhaled therapy, and IND-enabling activities for EQ302, an oral bi-specific inhibitor of IL-15 and IL-21 intended for celiac disease. The company also established a Clinical Advisory Board chaired by Professor Bruce Sands, M.D., Chair of the Feinstein IBD Clinical Center at Mount Sinai, to guide the ulcerative colitis program.

Second-quarter results

Research and development expenses for the second quarter of 2026 were $2.8 million, compared with $4.1 million in the same period of 2025. General and administrative expenses were $2.4 million, compared with $2.1 million. The net loss was $4.7 million, or $(0.04) per basic and diluted share, compared with $5.7 million, or $(0.16) per share, a year earlier.

For the six months ended June 30, 2026, research and development expenses were $5,740 thousand, against $10,007 thousand a year earlier. General and administrative expenses were $5,025 thousand, against $5,091 thousand. The six-month net loss was $10,004 thousand, compared with $14,393 thousand.

Balance sheet

Cash and cash equivalents were $57,164 thousand at June 30, 2026, up from $30,277 thousand at December 31, 2025. Total assets were $58,666 thousand, total liabilities were $2,650 thousand and stockholders' equity was $56,016 thousand, against $31,887 thousand, $3,290 thousand and $28,597 thousand at year-end 2025. The company said cash stood at $61.3 million at March 31, 2026.

Weighted-average shares outstanding were 111,805,635 for the quarter, compared with 35,719,317 a year earlier.

What the update does not show

EQ504 has not been given to a person yet. The company still has to submit its Phase 1 dossier in Australia, so the fourth-quarter start and the data about six months later are plans, not confirmed dates. The study is in healthy volunteers and tests safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics to assess mechanism, so it cannot show that the drug works in ulcerative colitis, and the patient study depends on supportive Phase 1 data. The descriptions of EQ504 as multi-modal and non-immunosuppressive rest on preclinical properties, and the company itself says it will lean on other AhR modulator datasets, so other companies' results are the yardstick.

The cash position is stronger than at year-end 2025, but weighted-average shares outstanding were 111,805,635 for the quarter against 35,719,317 a year earlier, so the share count has grown sharply. The company believes its cash can fund currently planned operations into 2029, an expectation that covers only the work it has planned. The XBRL data in the 10-K show revenue of $41.1 million for 2024 and a net loss of $22.4 million for 2025, with $22.7 million of cash used in operations that year.

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