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Here Are Four Catalysts To Watch From Rexahn Pharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEMKT:RNN)

Here Are Four Catalysts To Watch From Rexahn Pharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEMKT:RNN)
Written by
Chris Sandburg
Published on
August 30, 2017
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Rexahn Pharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEMKT:RNN) has, in our eyes, had an unreasonably rough time of it of late. Having run up to highs in around $4.25 a share during May, the company spent the subsequent three months declining towards an eventual trough of $1.81 on August 10. During the last couple of days, however, things seem to have started to pick up. Rexahn ran from $1.92 at close on Monday to intraday highs on Tuesday at $2.53, before settling to close out the session at $2.48 – a 28% appreciation open to close.The driver behind the run came in the form of news that the company has picked up a new patent, U.S. Patent No. 9,744,167, covering storage-stable nanoparticulate compositions and formulations of piperazine compounds used to treat and prevent proliferative diseases, including cancer. Daily chart for RNNIt's a step in the right direction, of course, and patients are key to the future retained earnings of a biotechnology company, but for us, it doesn't warrant the degree of appreciation that came with it. So why the sharp run? We think there's been a base of prospective shareholders waiting to pull the trigger on this one for a while, a base that has been watching the complete decline in an attempt to pick the bottom and getting at as cheap a price as possible. With the most recent announcement, which represents the first bit of news the company has put out for a few weeks, this portion of the market has been forced into pulling the trigger – something that should, theoretically, get the company moving back in the right direction longer term.So why do we like this one so much?At this end of the biotechnology space, it's all about catalysts and Rexahn has a whole host of them set to hit press between now and the end of the year. If one or more of these catalysts are reported as positive, it will reinforce sentiment surrounding the company's development pipeline and should inject some immediate upside momentum into its stock price.What are the catalysts we are looking for near term?Rexahn's lead development asset is a drug called RX-3117, and the company is currently investigating the drug in two separate phase 2a clinical trials – one in metastatic bladder cancer patients who have failed three or more prior therapies and another in metastatic pancreatic cancer patients that have failed three or more prior anti-cancer therapies.These are patients that have basically run out of options and would be offered palliative care without the drug that Rexahn is trying to get to market. Early-stage data pointed towards strong levels of efficacy in both indications and the ongoing phase 2 trials are designed to underpin pivotal registration trials, which would likely start and complete during 2018. That is if the data from both come out as indicative of efficacy.As per this recent letter to shareholders, management expects to get data in the hands of investors at some point during the fourth quarter of this year. Both of these releases are major catalysts.Outside of the lead asset, there is a preliminary readout from a phase 2a clinical study of the drug called Supinoxin, which the company is investigating as a potential treatment for first triple negative breast cancer; and an update from a clinical study (again a phase 2a) of a drug called Archexin in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) before the end of the year.In other words, four individual phase 2a trials are set to readout during the fourth quarter of this year, all of which could push the asset under investigation in each towards a pivotal registration trial. We only need to see one of these hit press as positive for Rexahn to really start moving.The company raised $10 million in June, removing any immediate dilution risk, but keep in mind that any pivotal initiations will almost certainly require additional funding and – by proxy – an equity issue.Check out our previous coverage of this one here. We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on RNN, sign up below!Image courtesy of Ed Uthman via FlickrDisclosure: We have no position in RNN and have not been compensated for this article.

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