Pain Therapeutics, Inc. PTIE is a micro-cap company that has developed several drug candidates, such as an abuse-resistant hydromorphone, an abuse-resistant hydrocodone and an antibody for metastatic melanoma.
What Happened
Pain Therapeutics has been awarded a research grant of approximately $3.5 million from the National Institutes of Health, the company said Thursday. This grant is intended to support the Phase II trial of PTI-125, an Alzheimer’s disease treatment candidate.
The company plans to develop a new blood test, PTI-125DX, for the early detection of Alzheimer's. This test has the potential to detect the disease years before any symptoms appear, according to Pain Therapeutics.
“An early diagnosis of Alzheimer's could allow treatment to start sooner, optimize treatment options for each individual and improve chances to slow or halt the disease.”
Why It’s Important
The program funded by the NIH has game-changing characteristics, Pain Therapuetics said. Based on data from the Alzheimer’s Association, the disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the U.S., affecting 5.7 million people. The affected number is expected to rise to roughly 14 million by 2050, the organization said.
The award will allow for Pain Therapeutics to conduct several clinical tests of the treatment in affected patients, according to the press release. The company expects to begin Phase II in 2018 before initiating a second round in mid-2019.
What’s Next
Pain Therapeutics shares were down 58.62 percent to $1.20 at the time of publication Thursday after closing more than 200 percent higher the day prior.
Pain Therapeutics CEO Remi Barbier commented on the micro-cap stock's volatile movement.
"When you’re a small-cap company, ripples can feel like tsunamis and vice versa, depending on market sentiment," Barbier told Benzinga in an email.
"Today’s a down day, so PTIE is very down. Yesterday was an up day, so PTIE was very up. It can be tough to be in a long game when markets shift dramatically."
The stock traded under $1 per share as recently as Tuesday and moved up to about $3 per share Wednesday afternoon.
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