FDA rejects Pain Therapeutics' opioid drug, shares plummet

The FDA shot down Pain Therapeutics' abuse-deterrent opioid, Remoxy, for the fourth time, causing the company's shares to decrease by more than 35 percent, according to Reuters.

Remoxy is a capsule formulation of oxycodone intended to prevent opioid abuse.

In a letter to the company, the FDA said the data gathered from test trials of Remoxy showed there are more associated risks than benefits.

"This is a bizarre conclusion to reach, especially during a time of staggering human and economic toll created by opioid abuse and addiction," Remi Barbier, CEO of Pain Therapeutics, said in a press release.

Following the drug's rejection, Pain Therapeutics launched a strategic realignment, which will involve shifting the company's focus to developing  treatments and diagnostic products for Alzheimer's disease.

"They are kind of backed into a corner when their drug gets rejected and there does not seem to be a path forward," Kevin Kedra, an analyst at Gabelli & Co., which owns about 1 percent of the drugmaker's shares, told Reuters. "That’s what companies have to do to stay alive I guess."

Pain Therapeutics' stock dropped 35.3 percent to $1.56 per share on August 6 after Remoxy's rejection. Overall, shares have fallen 40 percent in 2018.

More articles on opioids: 

FDA knew about dangerous opioid misuse, but failed to intervene, documents show
Children in these 3 states experience opioid-related parent loss, incarceration above the national average
Opioid prescriptions static since 2007 despite increased awareness of misuse

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