CUPERTINO, Calif., June 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- DURECT Corporation
(Nasdaq: DRRX) today announced that it received approval from the
Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market
("Nasdaq") to transfer the listing of the Company's common stock
from the Nasdaq Global Market to the Nasdaq Capital Market,
effective June 27, 2019. The Company
has also been granted an additional 180-day grace period, or until
December 23, 2019, to regain
compliance with Nasdaq's minimum bid price requirement (the
"Minimum Bid Price Requirement"). The Nasdaq Capital Market
operates in substantially the same manner as the Nasdaq Global
Market, and listed companies must meet certain financial
requirements and comply with Nasdaq's corporate governance
requirements. The Company's common stock will continue to
trade under the symbol "DRRX."
To regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement and
qualify for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market, the
minimum bid price per share of the Company's common stock must be
at least $1.00 for at least ten
consecutive business days during the additional 180-day grace
period. If the Company does not regain compliance during this
additional grace period, its common stock would be subject to
delisting by Nasdaq. As part of its transfer application, the
Company notified Nasdaq that if the stock price does not recover
sufficiently during the additional grace period, it would implement
a reverse stock split, if necessary.
About DURECT Corporation
DURECT is a biopharmaceutical company actively developing
therapeutics based on its Epigenetic Regulator Program and
proprietary drug delivery platforms. DUR‑928, a new chemical
entity in Phase 2 development, is the lead candidate in DURECT's
Epigenetic Regulator Program. An endogenous, orally
bioavailable small molecule, DUR-928 has been shown in preclinical
studies to play an important regulatory role in lipid homeostasis,
inflammation, and cell survival. Human applications may
include acute organ injury such as alcoholic Hepatitis (AH) and
acute kidney injury (AKI), chronic hepatic diseases such as
nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and inflammatory skin
conditions such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. DURECT's
advanced oral and injectable delivery technologies are designed to
enable new indications and enhanced attributes for small-molecule
and biologic drugs. Late stage product candidates in this
category include POSIMIR® (bupivacaine extended-release
solution), an investigational locally-acting, non-opioid analgesic
intended to provide up to 3 days of continuous pain relief after
surgery, and ORADUR™-Methylphenidate ER Capsules,
approved in Taiwan as Methydur
Sustained Release Capsules, where it is indicated for the treatment
of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In
addition, for the assignment of certain patent rights, DURECT
receives single digit sales-based earn-out payments from U.S. net
sales of Indivior's PERSERIS™ (risperidone) drug for
schizophrenia, which was commercially launched in February
2019. For more information about DURECT, please visit
www.durect.com.
DURECT Forward-Looking Statement
The statements in this press release regarding future events and
expectations, including without limitation, the ability to
regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement and
qualify for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market, the
potential implementation of a reverse stock split, the potential
use of DUR-928 to treat chronic hepatic diseases such as NASH,
acute organ injuries such as AH and AKI, and inflammatory skin
disorders such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, the potential
regulatory approval of POSIMIR by the FDA and the potential uses
and benefits of POSIMIR, as well as the use of POSIMIR to treat
post-surgical pain, the use of Indivior's PERSERIS to treat
schizophrenia, as well as the potential commercial sales of
Indivior's PERSERIS, are forward-looking statements involving risks
and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ
materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Potential
risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the
continued failure of the Company's common stock to trade at prices
above $1.00 per share, the risk of
being delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market, changes to Nasdaq's
continued listing standards, delays in the enrollment of the
ongoing clinical trials of DUR-928 in NASH, AH and psoriasis,
potential adverse effects arising from the testing or use of
DUR-928, the risk that the FDA may not approve the POSIMIR NDA, the
risk that PERSERIS will not have a successful commercial launch,
our ability to avoid infringing patents held by other parties and
secure and defend patents of our own patents, and our ability to
manage and obtain capital to fund our operations and expenses.
These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be
read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are
included in DURECT's Form 10-Q for the three months ended
March 31, 2019 filed on May 7, 2019 under the heading "Risk Factors" and
DURECT's other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission.
NOTE: ORADUR™, POSIMIR® and
SABER® are trademarks of DURECT Corporation. Other
referenced trademarks belong to their respective owners. DUR-928,
ORADUR-Methylphenidate ER Capsules and POSIMIR are drug candidates
under development and have not been approved for commercialization
by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or other health
authorities. Full prescribing information for PERSERIS, including
BOXED WARNING, and Medication Guide can be found at
www.perseris.com.
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SOURCE DURECT Corporation