Armata Pharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEAMERICAN:ARMP) Stock Soars 183% In a Month: What’s The Buzz?
Armata Pharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEAMERICAN:ARMP), the biotechnology company, is involved in the development of pathogen-specific bacteriophage therapeutics, which are meant for targeting antibiotic-resistant and bacterial infections which are difficult to treat.
The stock has been in the middle of a strong rally in recent times and it continued on Wednesday as the stock soared by 31%. That took the gains made by the stock over the past month to as much as 183%. In light of such gains, it could be a good idea for investors to consider taking a closer look into Armata Pharmaceuticals Inc this morning. The best way of going about it is perhaps by taking a look into the latest developments which may have led to the gains.
On July 11 the company had announced that it had gone into a credit and security agreement with the fully owned subsidiary unit of Innoviva Inc, Strategic Opportunities LLC. Prior to the deduction of transaction-specific expenses, the gross proceeds from the credit agreement at the time of closing stood at $25 million. Additionally, on the same day, the company announced that there was going to be a leadership transition.
By way of the transition, Dr. Brian Varnum was going to be succeeded as the Chief Executive Officer by Dr. Deborah L Birx. The appointment went into effect immediately and it was also noted that Dr. Birx would also join the board of directors of the company. The company also announced proceeds that had been derived from the credit agreement would be used to accelerate the development of its therapeutic phage candidates AP-PAO2 and AP-SAO2.
The two products are meant for targeting infections which are caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. Some of the funds would also be used by Armata for completing the build-out of its modern cGMP manufacturing facility. The new facility is expected to provide the company with the requisite manufacturing facility to go after strategic partnerships. Concurrently, the facility would also be used for later for late-stage clinical trials by deploying the core strength of Armata in advanced biologics.
The company had announced on May 31 that it would make an oral presentation of the Phase 1b/2a SWARM-P.a. clinical trial, which had been completed not too long ago at the time, at the 6th World Conference on Targeting Phage Therapy. The event had been scheduled to be held from June 1 to June 2, 2023, in Paris. The trial in question had been a randomized, double-blind, multicenter, placebo-controlled, single, and multiple ascending studies.
The study evaluated the pharmacodynamics, safety, pharmacokinetics, and tolerability of the company’s lead product candidate AP PAO2. It had been administered to patients who had been suffering from chronic pulmonary seudomonasaeruginosa infection and cystic fibrosis. In March this year, the company announced positive top-line data from the aforementioned trial. The company’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Mina Pastagia was scheduled to make the presentation at the event.