Langer’s PixarBio reverse merging, raising $30M to replace opioids

PixarBio hopes to have an FDA-approved, non-addictive pain treatment that would offer a viable alternative to morphine by 2018. The company is reverse merging to go public to further advance its efforts; it’s slated to start trading on the OTC market and to close on up to $30 million from a private placement during the second week of September.

PixarBio has several co-founders, including MIT’s well-known drug delivery specialist Robert Langer and Frank Reynolds, who also founded small cap InVivo Therapeutics ($NVIV).

The Cambridge, MA-based company is working on NeuroRelease to treat postoperative pain for longer than 5 days--and rebound pain for 14 days. It’s following a 505(b)(2) pathway; the company expects to do a 500-patient study in shoulder surgery pain to demonstrate efficacy in small nerves and another similarly sized study in knee replacement pain for large nerves.

PixarBio expects this pair of studies will be sufficient for an FDA approval by the end of 2018. NeuroRelease is based on nanoscale delivery systems and microparticle technology with the intent to deliver formulations of non-opiate, FDA-approved drugs.

The company expects to raise between $20 million and $30 million through the sale of shares at $2 per share. It expects to attach a 7-year warrant at $4.50 to potentially raise another $45 million.

“I’ve consistently outperformed hedge funds and we appreciate the continued support we are receiving from investors,” said PixarBio CEO Frank Reynolds in a statement. “Years ago our R&D team set the pace to lead the pharma sector to develop a morphine replacement.”

- here is the release

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