Benzinga's Daily Biotech Pulse: Titan's Parkinson's Disease Drug Implant Trial, Juniper Pharma Sells Itself At 32% Premium

Here's a roundup of top developments in the biotech space over the last 24 hours.

Scaling the Peaks

(Stocks hitting 52-week highs on July 2)

• Acer Therapeutics Inc ACER
• Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc ARWR
• Merus NV MRUS
• Translate Bio Inc TBIO

Down In The Dumps

(Stocks hitting 52-week lows on July 2)

• Agile Therapeutics Inc AGRX
• Altimmune Inc ALT
• Aralez Pharmaceuticals Inc ARLZ
• Auris Medical Holding AG EARS
• Cellectar Biosciences Inc CLRB
• Curis, Inc. CRIS
• Cytori Therapeutics Inc CYTX
• Egalet Corporation EGLT
• Erytech Pharma SA (ADR) ERYP
• Mabvax Therapeutics Holdings Inc MBVX
• MiMedx Group Inc MDXG (announced resignation of CEO and COO in connection with the accounting irregularity that resulted in the company deciding to restate results for the period from 2012 through 2016)
• Neon Therapeutics, Inc. NTGN
• Onconova Therapeutics Inc ONTX
• Vermillion, Inc. VRML

Stocks In Focus

Titan to Temporarily Stall Parkinson's Disease Implant Trial

Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. TTNP announced it would temporarily postpone enrollment of the second cohort of patients in the Phase 1/2 trial of its ropinirole implant meant to treat signs and symptoms of idiopathic Parkinson's disease. This is despite an Independent Data Safety Monitoring Board reviewing data from the first cohort of patients and recommending enrollment of the second cohort of patients.

The Ropinirole implant is a subdermal implant utilizing Titan's proprietary ProNeura drug delivery platform.

The company said it intends to focus on successfully commercializing its Probuphine implant –- a product intended to provide maintenance treatment for opioid addiction continuously for six months following a single procedure.

See Also: The Week Ahead In Biotech: Delayed Clinical Trial Releases In Focus

Juniper Agrees to Be Acquired By Catalent

Juniper Pharmaceuticals Inc JNP announced a deal, which provides for its sale to Catalent Inc CTLT for $11.50 per share in cash, a 32 percent premium to the former's closing price Monday.

ASLAN Submits Clinical Trial Authorization With Singapore Regulators

ASLAN PHARMACEUTICALS ASLN, which debuted on the Nasdaq on May 4, said it has submitted a clinical trial authorization application with the Singapore Health Sciences Authority to initiate a Phase1 trial for its ASLAN004, a pipeline candidate for atopic dermatitis.

On The Radar

Zogenix, Inc. ZGNX will release Phase 3 data for its ZX008 that is being evaluated in Study 1504 for Dravet syndrome in early July

FDA Tidbits

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, through a statement, outlined the risk of Salmonella contamination in kratom products, and how the agency arrived at the conclusion.

Kratom is an evergreen tree belonging to the coffee family and is a native of Southeast Asia. It has opioid properties.

"As we have previously stated, there are no proven medical uses for kratom and the FDA strongly discourages the public from consuming kratom," the agency said.