AMPE Raises Capital After Mixed Optina Data; Pre-Market Declines Could Persist

Ampio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPE) announced this morning that it has priced its 4.6M share equity offering at $3.25 per share ,with Aegis Capital Corp. and Fordham Financial Management, Inc. acting as joint book runners. AMPE recently reported results of its Phase II trial for Optina, a treatment for diabetic macular edema, in which it was unclear whether or not the primary endpoint in the study was met. Instead of addressing the trial’s pre-specified primary endpoint, the company chose to report efficacy in certain patients by correlating their body mass index (BMI) with different doses of the drug, despite some inconsistencies in the subpopulations.  As such, there is no way to tell whether these small subpopulations demonstrated that the drug will show efficacy in a larger clinical study, or that the data reported was the result of the company finding a cause and effect that was favorable by chance. Additionally,  adverse events in the study including peripheral edema, psoriasis, and worsening depression may have been treatment related, and therefore, pose questions about Optina’s ability to get to the market. So with Ampio raising capital off of these questionable results, investors may question the quality of this company and its prospects. Expect the shares to remain weak today, with the possibility to trade back to their lows of the year.