Shares of Achieve Life Sciences (NASDAQ:ACHV) are a top gainer amongst Nasdaq issues in Wednesday morning action, catalyzed by widening its partnership with the U.K.'s University of Bristol for uses of the alkaloid cytisine.
Found naturally in plants, the compound is thought to be more effective than nicotine replacement therapy to help smokers kick the habit due to its high binding affinity to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. The product has been marketed for smoking cessation in Central and Eastern Europe for over two decades.
Achieve was already partnered with UofB for the smoking indication and has now expanded the license agreement, which grants Achieve exclusive rights for all human medicinal uses of cytisine derivatives across all therapeutic categories.
The plan is to develop next-generation semi-synthetic cytisine variations for different addictions and neurological disorders.
Rick Stewart, Chairman and CEO of Achieve Life Sciences, said in today's news release that the main focus remains on commercializing the cytisine smoking cessation production in the U.S., while bolstering the product pipeline to plan for future growth.
Shares of ACHV shot ahead as high as $3.20 following the opening bell today after closing at $1.59 on Tuesday. Some of the initial gains have been given back, but shares are still up 58.5% at $2.14 less than 90 minutes into the trading session.
