REDWOOD CITY, Calif.,
June 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/
-- AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AcelRx) (Nasdaq: ACRX), a
specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and
commercialization of innovative therapies for use in medically
supervised settings, today announced that it does not intend to
revise further its offer under the terms of its previously
announced agreement to acquire Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(Tetraphase) (NASDAQ: TTPH), and it expects the agreement to be
terminated by Tetraphase. On June 1,
2020, Tetraphase disclosed that its board of directors had
determined that an amended proposal from Melinta Therapeutics, Inc.
constituted a "Superior Offer" under the terms of the AcelRx Merger
Agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, in connection with a
termination of the merger agreement, AcelRx will be paid a break-up
fee of approximately $1.8
million.
Vince Angotti, Chief Executive
Officer at AcelRx said, "AcelRx is financially disciplined, and
while we continue to recognize the merits of an AcelRx and
Tetraphase combination, we do not believe that any further
increases to our offer would be in the best interests of our
stockholders. As a result, we have decided not to further increase
our offer and will focus on other exciting opportunities to expand
and diversify our product portfolio and create a platform for
growth with other potential collaboration partners."
The co-promotion agreement between AcelRx and Tetraphase (or any
successor to Tetraphase) remains in place – safeguarded by
significant financial obligations. The training of both the AcelRx
and Tetraphase teams is complete and co-promotion efforts for
DSUVIA® and XERAVA™ are currently
underway.
About AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
AcelRx
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused
on the development and commercialization of innovative therapies
for use in medically supervised settings. AcelRx's
proprietary, non-invasive sublingual formulation technology
delivers sufentanil with consistent pharmacokinetic profiles.
AcelRx has one approved product in the U.S., DSUVIA® (sufentanil
sublingual tablet, 30 mcg), known as DZUVEO™ in Europe, indicated for the management of acute
pain severe enough to require an opioid analgesic for adult
patients in certified medically supervised healthcare settings, and
one product candidate, Zalviso® (sufentanil sublingual
tablet system, SST system, 15 mcg), an investigational product in
the U.S., is being developed as an innovatively designed
patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) system for reduction of
moderate-to-severe acute pain in medically supervised settings.
DZUVEO and Zalviso are both approved products in Europe.
For additional information about AcelRx, please visit
www.acelrx.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains
forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to,
statements related to the expected termination of the merger
agreement with Tetraphase and payment of a break-up fee,
anticipated benefits of the co-promotion agreement between AcelRx
and Tetraphase, the business strategy to expand and diversify
AcelRx's product portfolio, and potential
collaborations. These and any other forward-looking statements
are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as
"believes," "expects," "anticipates," "may," "will," "should,"
"seeks," "approximately," "intends," "plans," "estimates," or the
negative of these words or other comparable terminology. These
forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those
projected, anticipated or implied by such statements, including
AcelRx's ability to execute on its business strategy. Although
it is not possible to predict or identify all such risks and
uncertainties, they may include, but are not limited to, those
described in AcelRx's annual, quarterly and current reports (i.e.,
Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K) as filed or furnished with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). You are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of the date such statements were first made. AcelRx's
SEC reports are available at www.acelrx.com under the
"Investors" tab. Except to the extent required by law, AcelRx
undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any
revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances after the date hereof, or to reflect the occurrence
of unanticipated events.
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SOURCE AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.