When a biotech firm like Trevena (NASDAQ:TRVN) blasts up almost 400% in one day’s trading, it’s clear something big has happened. Usually, it’s a drug getting approved. That’s just what happened today as Trevena made its massive gain thanks to new approval in China.
Pick the best stocks and maximize your portfolio:
- Discover top-rated stocks from highly ranked analysts with Analyst Top Stocks!
- Easily identify outperforming stocks and invest smarter with Top Smart Score Stocks
The approval in question landed from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in China, which gave the nod to a pain management drug called Olinvyk. The approval actually hit for Trevena’s Chinese partner organization Jiangsu Nhwa, which developed the drug for release in the country. It likely would have had a much tougher road to approval in the United States, as Olinvyk is an opioid, meaning it is either derived from or acts similarly to opium.
Olinvyk is designed to be a high-end painkiller, sufficient to address pain that requires opioids administered intravenously. And while an opioid might have a tough time landing approval in the U.S., testing data from U.S. trials did contribute to Olinvyk’s approval. It also went through two bridging trials in China. With the process completed, Trevena lands not only a milestone payment of $3 million from Jiangsu Nhwa but will also put itself in line for an additional $15 million payment following its first commercial sale. The cash for that comes from CBC Group affiliate, the R-Bridge Healthcare Fund.
This news comes at just the right time for Trevena stock. A look at the last five days of trading shows that Trevena was on a downhill slope, though a comparatively mild one. However, you can see exactly when the news about Olinvyk hit, sending share prices blasting upward.
