How Newsoara Bio Is Saving vTv Therapeutics

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By Chris Lange Updated Published
How Newsoara Bio Is Saving vTv Therapeutics

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vTv Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: VTVT) shares saw a massive gain early on Thursday after the firm announced an exclusive licensing agreement with Newsoara Biopharma. This deal is for the rights to develop and commercialize vTv Therapeutics’ PDE4 Inhibitor program in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and other Pacific Rim countries.

Under the terms of the agreement, vTv Therapeutics will receive an upfront payment, which was not disclosed, and will be eligible to receive future development and commercialization milestones, as well as royalties on sales of approved products. Newsoara will develop HPP737 in the covered territories for respiratory and other inflammatory diseases.

Prior to the stock moving, vTv Therapeutics had a market cap of roughly $55 million. On the books, the company had $11.9 million in cash and cash equivalents as of the end of 2017, though this number has been dwindling over the past few years.

Excluding Thursday’s move, vTv had underperformed the broad markets, with its stock down 67% in the past 52 weeks. In just 2018 alone, the stock was down 72%.

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Steve Holcombe, CEO of vTv Therapeutics, commented:

We are excited to partner with Newsoara, an innovative biotechnology company in China with an outstanding experienced management team, led by Dr. Benny Li, to develop and commercialize our PDE4 program in the licensed Asian countries,” “This represents our second partnership to introduce potential new therapies into the China market which speaks to the importance of that market.

Shares of vTv closed Wednesday at $1.66, with a consensus analyst price target of $1.67 and a 52-week trading range of $0.65 to $8.40. Following the announcement, the stock was up about 46% at $2.43 in early trading indications Thursday.

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Photo of Chris Lange
About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.

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