ProKidney Shareholders Back Board Picks as Rilparencel Phase 3 Timeline Stays on Track

ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) stockholders approved all proposals presented at the company’s 2026 annual meeting, including the election of three directors and the ratification of Ernst & Young as the company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2026.

The hybrid meeting was chaired by Pablo Legorreta, ProKidney’s chairman of the board, and included participation from members of the company’s board and management team. Todd C. Girolamo, ProKidney’s chief legal officer and corporate secretary, reported that holders of 301,966,357 shares of common stock were entitled to vote and that a majority of shares entitled to vote were represented in person or by proxy, establishing a quorum.

Directors Elected Through 2029

Stockholders voted to elect three director nominees to serve until the 2029 annual meeting and until their successors are elected. The nominees were William F. Doyle, Alan M. Lotvin, MD, and Brian Pereira, MD.

Legorreta said the candidates had been nominated by the company’s Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and board of directors. No other nominations were received, and the nominations were closed during the meeting.

Girolamo said the preliminary vote report from the Inspector of Election showed that the requisite number of shares had been voted in favor of each nominee. The company said final vote results will be reported in a Form 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Auditor Ratification Approved

Stockholders also approved, on a non-binding advisory basis, the appointment of Ernst & Young as ProKidney’s independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2026.

Girolamo said the preliminary vote report showed that the ratification proposal received the requisite number of votes for approval. A representative of Ernst & Young attended the meeting, along with members of ProKidney management, including Chief Executive Officer Dr. Bruce Culleton and Chief Financial Officer James Coulston.

Company Highlights Clinical and Regulatory Progress

After the formal business concluded and no stockholder questions were submitted, concluding remarks were delivered following an introduction by Legorreta. The company described 2025 as “a pivotal year” for ProKidney and highlighted several developments since its prior annual meeting.

Among the updates, ProKidney said it aligned with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on an accelerated approval pathway for rilparencel using estimated glomerular filtration rate, or eGFR, slope as a surrogate endpoint. The company also pointed to positive Phase II data from the REGEN-007 clinical study, which it presented as a late-breaking clinical trial at the American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week.

ProKidney said the full manuscript from that work was published, along with an invited editorial, in the May edition of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Phase III Enrollment and Manufacturing Expansion

The company said it generated “significant enrollment momentum” in its Phase III PROACT 1 study and initiated expansion of its in-house manufacturing footprint in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Looking ahead, ProKidney said it remains on track to complete enrollment in the Phase III study in 2026 and anticipates a readout of the eGFR slope surrogate endpoint in the second quarter of 2027 as it seeks accelerated approval of rilparencel.

The company said it remains focused on advancing rilparencel, described during the meeting as a novel cellular therapeutic, for patients with advanced chronic kidney disease and Type 2 diabetes. The remarks also thanked employees, investigators, clinical study participants and shareholders for their support.

Legorreta adjourned the meeting after stating that there were no additional matters to come before stockholders.

About ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK)

ProKidney, Inc (NASDAQ: PROK) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing cell-based therapies for kidney diseases. The company’s research and development activities center on harnessing human-derived proximal tubule cells to address conditions such as acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). By targeting the underlying cellular mechanisms of renal injury and dysfunction, ProKidney aims to offer novel regenerative medicine approaches that go beyond current supportive care options.

ProKidney’s lead programs utilize proprietary methods for isolating and expanding renal epithelial cells to create injectable therapeutic products.