Acura Pharmaceuticals: To the rescue

Hooked on oxycodone, morphine, codeine or tramadol? Acura Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:ACUR) is on the way, intent on saving the world from addiction while defeating acute pain.

Acura wants to be the Superman of pain relief, but for now it’s just a Mighty Mouse in the making. As a development stage company, Palatine, Ill.-based Acura addresses what it terms the growing societal problem of prescription drug abuse. Its job is to make products that deter misuse but still ease discomfort. It has no revenue to date — only payments from a license agreement with King Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:KG), which agreed in October 2007 to market certain Acura products should they be approved for sale. 

Acura, actually, is just getting off the ground. Its shares moved onto Nasdaq in February after a reverse stock split, having traded previously on the OTC Bulletin Board. The company hoped to attract analyst coverage after its move to Nasdaq, but no analyst yet follows Acura. There also haven’t been presentations at investor conferences, so visibility into the company is limited.

But one thing is clear: becoming profitable depends on payments from King, and on the successful commercialization by King of future licensees of products using Acura’s Aversion Technology platform. The platform is key: Acura believes it has the power to develop a range of abuse-deterrent pain drugs. King expanded its arrangement in May, paying Acura $3 million for a license on a third Acura drug.

Acura’s agreement with King includes milestone payments for meeting goals of a late stage study on Acurox tablets — the company’s lead drug. An application for Acurox is expected to be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for approval by the end of 2008. The most recent Acurox payment was $5 million in June.

Acurox is an immediate-release opioid analgesic that discourages misuse, including intravenous injection of dissolved tablets or capsules, nasal snorting of crushed tablets and swallowing pills in excessive numbers.

Mash a tablet and snort the powder, and your nose will burn. Try to separate . . .

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