AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACRX)
AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ACRX), a specialty pharmaceutical company today announced its drug ARX-04 met all endpoints in phase 3 study. The study showed that patients receiving ARX-04 experienced significant reduction in pain compared to patients receiving the placebo.
AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CEO’s Comments
“In addition to the ambulatory surgery setting studied in this trial, we believe ARX-04 has broad application in emergency room and military settings, where patients often do not have immediate access to IV pain medications,” added Howie Rosen, interim chief executive officer of AcelRx. “To that end, we expect to initiate a study this year in emergency room patients. Beyond the ER, we are researching other medically supervised settings in which ARX-04’s non-invasive, rapid-acting profile would benefit patients.” PR Newswire
Comments from Chief Medical Officer :
“These results bring AcelRx one step closer to commercializing a sublingual sufentanil product that we believe will have a meaningful impact by providing a non-invasive treatment of moderate-to-severe acute pain in several medically supervised settings,” said Dr. Pamela Palmer, founder and chief medical officer of AcelRx Pharmaceuticals. “We look forward to working with the FDA and the Department of Defense to complete the development of ARX-04 and bring this novel and much needed product to market.” PR Newswire
ACRX Technical Analysis
ACRX gapped up in price today to $4.72 up from yesterday’s close of $4.09 which is a 13% increase in price based on favorable news. Taking a look at the daily chart we can see the last time the stock traded at this price level was back on Aug 5 when it traded at $4.70. Taking a further look back we can see the stock has formed a triple top at this level of $4.70- $4.75. The other two dates were April 17 and April 23 both days the stock closed at $4.74. This level has formed as a significant resistance level for the stock. The stock did reach pre market highs of $5.50 which means that it gave back $0.74 at the open equal to 13%. This concerns me and tells me the stock may be overextended at this price level. The stock does have a relatively low float of 24.68 million shares and has a high short float of 21.62 % so the elements for the gap and go strategy are their. However with the resistance level and fade from pre market highs, I would take a more cautious approach at the open. I want the stock to show me that it can still move up. For trading purposes I would use $5.00 as my entry point looking for a run to the pre market highs of $5.50. My stop loss would be $4.70 fearing anything below that and the stock will start to fill in the gap up.
Company Profile
AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes therapies for the treatment of acute pain. The company’s lead product candidate is Zalviso, an investigational, pre-programmed, non-invasive, handheld system that has completed Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acute pain in the hospital setting. The company is also developing ARX-04, a sufentanil single-dose tablet, which has been planned to initiate Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acute pain to be administered by a healthcare professional to a patient in settings of acute pain, such as in the emergency room, hospital floor, ambulatory care facilities, or on the battlefield. In addition, its product candidate pipeline consists of ARX-02, a pain management system that has completed Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of cancer patients who suffer from breakthrough pain; and ARX-03, a single, fixed-dose, and combination drug product, which has been completed Phase II clinical trial designed to provide mild sedation, anxiety reduction, and pain relief for patients undergoing painful procedures in a physician’s office. The company was formerly known as SuRx, Inc. and changed its name to AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in August 2006. AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California. Yahoo Finance
