Ovid Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:OVID), KemPharm Inc (NASDAQ:KMPH), Aquestive Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AQST) and Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRNE) were among the health care gainers in Wednesday's premarket session. Here's what investors need to know.
Ovid Hands Rights To Epilepsy Drug Back To Takeda: Ovid, which acquired co-development rights to epilepsy candidate soticlestat from Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (NYSE:TAK) in 2017, is now handing back all global rights to the candidate under a new exclusive agreement.
For the transfer of rights, Ovid will receive an upfront payment of $196 million, at closing, and potentially up to $600 million in regulatory and sales milestones.
Ovid is also eligible to receive tiered royalties beginning in the low double digits, and up to 20% on sales of soticlestat if it's approved and commercialized.
Ovid will have no further development or milestone obligations under the original 2017 collaboration, the companies said.
Soticlestat was proven effective in a Phase 2 study in pediatric patients with Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.
Related Link: The Week Ahead In Biotech (Feb. 28-March 6): KemPharm, Gilead FDA Decisions and More Earnings
KemPharm, Aquestive Rally On ADHD Drug Approval: KemPharm announced late Tuesday the FDA approved its Azstarys, previously known as KP415, a once-daily product to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in patients ages six years and older.
Azstarys consists of serdexmethylphenidate, the company's prodrug of d-methylphenidate co-formulated with immediate-release d-MPH.
KemPharm is collaborating with Aquestive on an oral film dosage of KP415.
Sorrento Gains On Nod For COVID-19 Antibody Study: Sorrento said it has received clearance from the FDA to start the Phase 1 study of its intranasal antibody STI-2099. The study will evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetics of STI-2099 in both healthy volunteers and patients with mild COVID-19.
Sorrento said it expects to evaluate STI-2099 alone or in combination with STI-2020, another antibody that is being evaluated in an intravenous formulation against the dominant SARS-CoV-2 virus strain found in the U.S. as well as the emerging U.K. variant.
The Price Action: At last check Wednesday:
- Ovid shares were jumping 44.19% to $4.27.
- KemPharm was soaring 68.03% to $15.84.
- Aquestive was down 0.6% at $4.95.
- Sorrento shares were down 1.6% at $9.29.
Related Link: The Daily Biotech Pulse: KemPharm ADHD Drug Gets The Nod, MediciNova Shelves Vaccine Study
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