NRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: NRXP) today initiated actions to combat short sellers in the Company’s stock.
The Company announced a proposal to simultaneously change the CUSIP under which the Company’s shares are traded, together with changing the name of the Company to NRx Therapeutics, Inc. The Company plans to accompany these actions with a required exchange of the underlying stock certificates. This certificate change is expected to be seamless for those investors holding NRXP shares in electronic form and similarly for investors who may have established short positions in NRXP by borrowing the underlying shares from a registered shareholder. Any party holding a short position in the Company’s shares who has not complied with the legal requirement to borrow the underlying shares of stock (i.e. “a naked short”) may be unable to exchange that position for a position in the new security.
The Company is working with attorneys who formerly served in leadership positions at the SEC Division of Enforcement to correspond with corporate counsel and compliance heads at leading brokerages to emphasize the current legal prohibitions against naked short sales. As identified in previous announcements, the Company was advised by ShareIntel in September 2023 that substantial naked short positions in the Company’s securities had been identified at major brokerage firms.
“We believe it is in the best interests of our shareholders to have fully-compliant trading in the markets,” said Janet Rehnquist, Esq., who chairs the Company’s Compliance Committee. “As we focus on the development of potentially life-saving drugs to combat suicidal depression, PTSD, and Chronic Pain, it is critical that we take all steps possible to maximize the value of those who have invested in our Company and provided the resources to address these critical unmet medical needs.”
About NRx Pharmaceuticals
NRx Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics based on its NMDA platform for the treatment of central nervous system disorders, specifically suicidal bipolar depression, chronic pain and PTSD. The Company is developing NRX-101, an FDA-designated investigational Breakthrough Therapy for suicidal treatment-resistant bipolar depression and chronic pain. NRx has partnered with Alvogen and Lotus around the development and marketing of NRX-101 for the treatment of suicidal bipolar depression. NRX-101 additionally has potential to act as a non-opioid treatment for chronic pain, as well as a treatment for complicated UTI.
NRx has recently announced plans to submit a New Drug Application for HTX-100 (IV ketamine), through Hope Therapeutics, in the treatment of suicidal depression, based on results of well-controlled clinical trials conducted under the auspices of the US National Institutes of Health and newly obtained data from French health authorities, licensed under a data sharing agreement. NRx was awarded Fast Track Designation for development of ketamine (NRX-100) by the US FDA as part of a protocol to treat patients with acute suicidality.
