NBY To Effect Reverse Split, It's Music To OTIC's Ears, HZNP Opens Wallet

(RTTNews) - Compugen Ltd. (CGEN) has received the third preclinical milestone payment from Bayer HealthCare related to CGEN-15001T, a novel immune checkpoint.

The company has a collaboration and license agreement with Bayer that was inked in 2003 for the development and commercialization of antibody-based cancer immune therapeutics against two novel Compugen-discovered immune checkpoint regulators, CGEN-15022 and CGEN-15001T.

Compugen received an upfront payment of $10 million and is eligible to receive over $500 million in potential milestone payments for both checkpoint programs, plus an additional $30 million of potential milestone payments associated with joint preclinical research for the two programs.

CGEN closed Friday's trading at $6.93, up 1.91%.

Horizon Pharma plc (HZNP) has agreed to acquire privately held Crealta Holdings LLC for $510 million in cash.

The acquisition adds KRYSTEXXA, the first and only FDA-approved medicine for chronic refractory gout, to Horizon Pharma's drug portfolio.

The transaction, scheduled to close in the first quarter 2016, is expected to add $70 million to $80 million in net sales and $45 million to $50 million in adjusted EBITDA in the first twelve months following closing, says Horizon.

HZNP closed Friday's trading at $18.99, down 6.91%. In after hours, the stock fell another 1.37% to $18.73.

In order to meet continued listing standards of the NYSE MKT, NovaBay Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NBY) will be implementing a 1-for-25 reverse stock split on December 18, 2015 after the market closes.

The stock will begin trading on a split-adjusted basis on Monday, December 21, 2015.

NBY closed Friday's trading at $0.12, down 8.81%.

Otonomy Inc.'s (OTIC) single-dose, physician-administered antibacterial OTIPRIO has received FDA approval for the treatment of pediatric patients with bilateral otitis media with effusion undergoing tympanostomy tube placement.

Otitis media with effusion is the accumulation of non-infected fluid in the middle ear that may result in mild pain or hearing loss.

The company expects OTIPRIO, its first product, to be launched in the first quarter of 2016.

Each year, in the U.S., approximately one million tympanostomy tube placement (TTP) surgeries are performed. Although, a number of off-label antibiotic ear drops have been used for this indication, there hasn't been an approved product until Friday.

Otiprio becomes the first product to be approved by the FDA for the treatment of middle ear effusion during TTP surgery.

OTIC closed Friday's trading at $27.32, up 2.90%. In after hours, the stock was up 1.94% to $27.85.

XBiotech Inc. (XBIT) is collaborating with the NCIC Clinical Trials Group to develop a phase II study to assess its lead product candidate Xilonix in combination with Roche's Tarceva for treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

The proposed study, which will enroll approximately 75 patients, is projected to launch in Canada in Q2 2016.

XBIT closed Friday's trading at $10.80, down 9.01%.