
Following the disappointment regarding its only remaining asset, which failed to make it to the clinics, Ampio Pharmaceuticals has decided to concede defeat and delist from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The leadership at Ampio is giving in to the unavoidable by delisting the company shares as the stock value was expected to fall short of the NYSE stock exchange requirements. Due to this, the company will save some expenses associated with staying on the stock exchange and being in compliance with the reporting requirements of the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission).
According to a press release by Ampio, the company requires necessary funds in order to methodically wind up its operations while also ensuring the best cash position, and to achieve this the board has decided to take the steps in the company’s best interest.
Back in September 2021 the company’s stock was being traded at a per-share price of nearly $500 but has since been dropping in value due to multiple clinical barriers. Numerous attempts to develop Ampion, the osteoarthritis drug for COVID-19 had eventually failed due to which the company had to let go off all employees but five by early 2023.
For more than two years, the company has been considering strategic alternatives; nevertheless, its defeat of OA-201 this past month signaled the end of the road. When the small molecule formulation was tested against saline in smaller preclinical tests, it shown promise in reducing pain and preserving knee cartilage. However, in a broader set of animal experiments, Ampio reported in February that the medicine was not able to relieve discomfort associated with osteoarthritis.
This effectively ended Ampio’s last-ditch attempt to create a medication and the company’s ambitions to submit an experimental new drug application the following year. As there was no longer a backup plan in place, Ampio stated at that point that the board was “evaluating internal as well as external options.”
The biotech acknowledged in an SEC filing that, once this study was finished, the decision had been made to wind down the business and delist from the NYSE.
In the early hours of this morning, Ampio’s shares were trading at just over $1. Ampio anticipates that its shares will remain on the stock market until about April 14.
Prior until this, Ampio Pharmaceuticals had directed its OA-201 program on the creation of a possible osteoarthritis therapy. OAK as well as other joints may be treated with Ampio’s exclusive and distinctive small molecule formulation, which is being investigated in the OA-201 development program. The OA-201 program was terminated at that time because, as we said in February 2024, the findings from a series of non-clinical trials did not demonstrate the pain reduction effect.