CytRx (CYTR) is a biotechnology company focused on the development of human therapeutic products primarily based upon small molecule molecular chaperone co-induction technology. The company has completed a Phase IIa clinical trial of its small molecule product candidate, arimoclomol, for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gerhig’s Disease. CytRx is awaiting FDA approval to start clinical trials in Phase IIb.
The company is also examining the possibility of the aforementioned treatment being used to treat and repair stroke damage, and is working on a Phase II clinical trial of iroxanadine for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers. In addition, the company owns 49 percent of RXi Pharmaceuticals, which develops therapeutic products based upon ribonucleic acid interference technologies for the treatment of human diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.
California-based CytRx competes with such pharmaceutical giants as Sanofi-Aventis and Celgene Corporation, along with a smaller rival Aeolus Pharmaceuticals Inc. In August, CytRx said its second-quarter loss narrowed to $5.8 million, or 6 cents a share, from $6.3 million, or 7 cents a share a year earlier. The company also said it would acquire Innovive Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to bolster revenue and gain access to new molecular chaperone technology. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2008. CytRx expects the acquisition to help accelerate the time to its first New Drug Application (NDA) to 2010.
Three sell-side analysts follow CytRx, which has a market value of $52.6 million. CytRx shares closed today at 58 cents and have traded between 40 cents and $4.20 over the past 52 weeks. The average daily volume for the past three months is over 809,000 shares, a fairly high amount for a stock of CytRx’s price.
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