Neuphoria Therapeutics Inc. to Receive $15M Milestone Payment from Merck
Milestone payment triggered by the initiation of a Phase 2 clinical trial in Alzheimer's disease with MK-1167, an α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor positive allosteric modulator
BURLINGTON, Mass., Feb. 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Neuphoria Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: NEUP) (Neuphoria or Company), a late-stage biotechnology developing impactful treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders, bringing new hope and tangible improvements to patients' lives, announced today that the Company is due to receive a $15 million milestone payment from Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. The payment is triggered by the initiation, by Merck, of a Phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of MK-1167, an α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor positive allosteric modulator (PAM), for the treatment of the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease dementia (NCT06721156).
'We are excited to see this latest progress in our long-standing collaboration with Merck. The initiation of the Phase 2 trial validates our past joint discovery research efforts and Neuphoria's unique ion channel targeting platform that has generated several small molecule candidates currently in clinical and preclinical stages of development.' said Spyros Papapetropoulos, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of Neuphoria Therapeutics Inc. 'This is an important milestone as we continue to evaluate the potential of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor targeted therapeutics to provide a much-needed treatment option for the treatment of people with neuropsychiatric disorders'.
This $15M payment marks the second milestone achieved in the collaboration with Merck. Under the agreement, Neuphoria is eligible to receive up to $450M in additional milestone payments for certain development and commercial milestones associated with the progress of multiple candidates plus royalties on net sales of any licensed medicines.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
GeneralSpyridon (Spyros) Papapetropoulosinfo@neuphoriatx.com
Investor RelationsKevin Gardnerkgardner@lifesciadvisors.com
Investor RelationsChris Calabreseccalabrese@lifesciadvisors.com
About Neuphoria Therapeutics Inc.Neuphoria (Nasdaq: NEUP) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing therapies that address the complex needs of individuals affected by neuropsychiatric disorders. Neuphoria is advancing its lead drug candidate, BNC210, an oral, proprietary, selective negative allosteric modulator of the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, for the acute, 'as needed' treatment of social anxiety disorder (SAD) and for chronic treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). BNC210 is a first-of-its-kind, well-tolerated, broad spectrum anti-anxiety experimental therapeutic, designed to restore neurotransmitter balance in relevant brain areas, providing rapid relief from stress and anxiety symptoms without the common pitfalls of sedation, cognitive impairment, or addiction. In addition, Neuphoria has a strategic partnership with Merck & Co., Inc. (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada) with two drugs in early-stage clinical trials for the treatment of cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's disease and other central nervous system conditions. Neuphoria's pipeline also includes the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor next generation and the Kv3.1/3.2 preclinical programs, both in the lead optimization development stage.
Forward -Looking StatementsNeuphoria cautions that statements included in this press release that are not a description of historical facts are forward-looking statements. Words such as 'may,' 'could,' 'will,' 'would,' 'should,' 'expect,' 'plan,' 'anticipate,' 'believe,' 'estimate,' 'intend,' 'predict,' 'seek,' 'contemplate,' 'potential,' 'continue' or 'project' or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations. The inclusion of forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by Neuphoria that any of its plans will be achieved. Actual results may differ materially from those set forth in this release due to the risks and uncertainties inherent in the Company's business and other risks described in the Company's filings with the SEC, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC, and its other reports. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof, and Neuphoria undertakes no obligation to revise or update this news release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties and other factors is included in Neuphoria's filings with the SEC, copies of which are available from the SEC's website (www.sec.gov) and on Neuphoria's website (www.neuphoriatx.com) under the heading 'Investor Center.' All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. This caution is made under the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Neuphoria expressly disclaims all liability in respect to actions taken or not taken based on any or all the contents of this press release.Sign in to access your portfolio
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
This AI ETF Could Turn $10,000 Into $40,000 by 2035
It's becoming clearer that artificial intelligence is going to have a meaningful impact on the economy over time. Investors that want diversified exposure to the AI trend should consider this top ETF that has produced a monster 414% total return in the past 10 years. While there continues to be a lot of excitement about AI in the near term, it's important that investors have the patience to focus on the next decade and beyond. 10 stocks we like better than Invesco QQQ Trust › There's no denying it -- artificial intelligence (AI) is likely going to have a profound impact on the world over the long term. Entire industries could be altered. It's no wonder management teams are increasingly focused on ways to better position themselves for long-term success. From an investment perspective, perhaps it's starting to make sense that your portfolio should have some exposure to AI. Luckily, investors don't necessarily need to pick individual stocks if they want to benefit from the trend. There's one top AI exchange-traded fund (ETF) that could turn $10,000 into $40,000 by 2035. Continue reading to learn more about how to supercharge your portfolio for future success. In the last 10 years, the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) has generated a total return of 414% (as of June 3). This means that a $10,000 investment made in June 2015 would be worth $51,400 today. I don't think anyone in their right mind would complain with that kind of fantastic result. Even better, the expense ratio of 0.20% is a minimal cost to bear for that type of gain. There's no guarantee that past returns will repeat themselves going forward. Let's assume that there is a slowdown. Even so, I wouldn't be surprised if investors who put the same $10,000 in this ETF today see a fourfold gain in the next decade, resulting in a 15% annualized return. There's a lot of talk about how the stock market's current valuation is expensive. But consider that this has been the general narrative for a very long time. Yet that hasn't prevented equity markets from marching higher. The rise of passive investing, ongoing economic expansion, and dominance of tech-driven enterprises have all played a part. I'm fairly confident these trends will continue. The Invesco QQQ Trust can be considered a top AI ETF, even though it contains 100 stocks in total. There is heavy concentration among the top positions, many of which have a meaningful AI focus. The so-called hyperscalers, most notably Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet, combined represent 18.9% of the Invesco QQQ Trust's asset base. These dominant companies have leading cloud computing platforms that offer a range of AI tools to their customers. They're collectively planning to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on capital expenditures in 2025 in an effort to bolster their technical infrastructure to better position themselves for an AI future. We can't forget about Nvidia, the biggest beneficiary thus far of the AI boom. It provides the graphics-processing units that power AI data centers, posting unbelievable revenue and profit growth. It's the second-largest holding in the Invesco QQQ Trust. Other top positions are Apple, Meta Platforms, Netflix, and Tesla. There's no doubt that AI has and will keep impacting these businesses in some way as well. Investing correctly means having patience. While the AI craze has definitely made some investors rich in a short period of time, that's the wrong mindset to have. When buying the Invesco QQQ Trust, it's critical to keep the attention on the next decade and beyond. AI has the ability to revolutionize many parts of our economy, and this will all take time to play out. As of this writing, the Invesco QQQ Trust trades 2% off its peak. It might be tempting to wait for a bigger pullback to put money to work. However, I believe this is a flawed approach. It's a smart idea to invest early and often, letting compounding work its magic. Investing in this top AI ETF could work wonders for your portfolio between now and 2035. Before you buy stock in Invesco QQQ Trust, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Invesco QQQ Trust wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $674,395!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $858,011!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 997% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Neil Patel has positions in Invesco QQQ Trust. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This AI ETF Could Turn $10,000 Into $40,000 by 2035 was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Musk Vs. Trump: Tesla Suffers Record $152B One-Day Crash As CEO Warns Tariffs 'Will Cause A Recession' (UPDATED)
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock traded down 14.3% to $284.70 on Thursday, the company's second-biggest percentage loss in more than a year and the biggest market cap loss in company history. The decline was caused by an escalated feud between CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump. What Happened: Tesla's market cap fell by a company record $152 billion, taking the company out of the $1 trillion market capitalization club. This move comes after Musk publicly criticized Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill." Comments made by Trump in a press interview and by Musk and Trump on social media accounts escalated the battle, with people picking sides in a war of words between two of the world's most influential voices. Trending: Start investing with eToro's CopyTrader — . Musk has been vocal about the projected increase in the national debt from the new spending bill. "Congress is spending America into bankruptcy!" the Tesla CEO tweeted. Trump posted a series of messages on his Truth Social account speaking out against Musk. "I don't mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago. This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress," Trump posted. The president said the bill will put the country "on a path of greatness." Another post had Trump saying that he asked Musk to leave the White House as he was "wearing thin." The president said he removed Musk's EV mandate, which "forced everyone to buy electric cars that nobody else wanted." "And he just went CRAZY!" Trump also suggested that terminating government subsidies and contracts with Musk would be one way to save money. Musk said the president's comments on the EV mandate are "an obvious lie" in a tweet. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO also suggested that he will decommission the Dragon spacecraft in response to Trump's threat on subsidies. The Dragon spacecraft was recently used to bring two stranded astronauts home from the International Space Station. Musk also asked if it was time to create a new political party in America that represents the "80% in the middle." With over 1.1 million votes in, 82% had voted yes, suggesting a third-party option to the Democratic and Republican parties. Escalating the feud further, Musk tweeted that the "really big bomb" is that Trump is in the Epstein files, a reference to the list of people associated with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. "This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted. The President is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again, " said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt when asked by Benzinga for comment. Musk also suggested that Trump's tariffs "will cause a recession in the second half" of Stock Falls: Shares of the electric vehicle company suffered their second-largest fall year-to-date on Thursday, narrowly beaten by a 15.4% drop on March 10. That March 10 drop was the largest percentage loss for Tesla shares in five years. The drop came as Musk's role in the White House expanded, and he said he planned to stay involved for another year. The stock had dropped in several sessions around that time amid tariff fears and concerns that Musk's political activism was damaging the Tesla brand. While this marks Tesla's largest market cap drop, it is also shy of the largest percentage drop in 2025 and all time. The largest single-day percentage drop for Tesla stock was on Sept. 8, 2020, when it fell 21.1% after not being selected as a member of the S&P 500 Index. The stock would later be added to the index. Tesla stock fell 19.3% on Jan. 13, 2012 after two key departures were announced, as reported by CNN. The good news for Tesla stock could be its history of rebounds after big drops. After shares fell 15.4% on March 10, 2025, the stock rose 3.8% the following day. After the record 21.1% drop on September 8, 2020, Tesla stock rose 10.9% the next day. Tesla stock has traded between $167.42 and $488.54 over the last year, and it is now down 24.9% year-to-date in 2025. Read Next: Nancy Pelosi Invested $5 Million In An AI Company Last Year — Here's How You Can Invest In Multiple Pre-IPO AI Startups With Just $1,000. Invest Where It Hurts — And Help Millions Heal: Invest in Cytonics and help disrupt a $390B Big Pharma stronghold. Image created using photos from Shutterstock. This article Musk Vs. Trump: Tesla Suffers Record $152B One-Day Crash As CEO Warns Tariffs 'Will Cause A Recession' (UPDATED) originally appeared on
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Rocket Lab Stock Is Soaring Again: Should You Buy It Under $30?
Rocket Lab is gaining a reputation for reliability in the rocket launch and space systems market. The company is building on its capabilities and improving its relationships as a defense contractor. While this young sector shows a lot of great promise, the stock looks overvalued today. 10 stocks we like better than Rocket Lab › Space is the final frontier, and it is now turning into a burgeoning economy. Researchers estimate that the space economy is worth over $500 billion with heavy spending from governments around the world along with private-company partners, and that figure is expected to grow to around $1.8 trillion a year by 2035. This is a huge opportunity for start-ups, perhaps rivaled only by artificial intelligence (AI) over the next decade when it comes to both growth rates and size. One company that dominates (and actually built) the entire space market is SpaceX. It's privately held, but luckily, investors have other space economy stocks that are turning into promising businesses. Enter Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB), the space flight company increasingly competing with SpaceX and developing promising capabilities to grow its presence in this large market. The stock has begun to soar again and is trading at around $26 as of this writing. Should you buy while shares are still under $30? Rocket Lab began its journey in the space economy with its small Electron rocket. It has now begun to expand and vertically integrate various space economy segments. It just acquired a company called Geost for $275 million. Geost develops optical and infrared capabilities for satellites with a focus on selling to the U.S. government's national security satellites. Rocket Lab is used by the government to launch its payloads into space. Now, it will be helping to build and operate these payloads for customers. It keeps vertically integrating its launch and space systems, which gives it a competitive advantage over other companies that only offer one or the other (SpaceX is the only other vertically integrated player). Rocket Lab offers solar energy, radio systems, and software for companies sending missions operating in space. This is why its backlog was over $1 billion as of the end of last quarter. Electron launch missions will continue throughout 2025, hopefully building on the company's strong safety and reliability record. The next step for the company will be testing and launching its larger Neutron rocket for customers. Testing is underway for this rocket right now with a planned mission for a confidential customer sometime in 2026. Larger rockets mean larger payloads, which means more revenue per launch. It also will give the company more of an opportunity to sell its space systems on these launches. The Neutron is the key for Rocket Lab to take the next step in its capabilities as a space flight company and to grow its backlog and revenue. Defense contracts have been a huge part of Rocket Lab's business. It currently helps with Air Force missions and a hypersonic testing program called HASTE. It was recently added to the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program for its Neutron rocket, another reason why this new rocket is so important for the company's future. A growing relationship with the U.S. government could not have come at a better time for Rocket Lab. The government is set on spending a ton of money on space solutions as the next frontier in national defense. For example, the proposed Golden Dome missile defense project for the U.S. would cost an estimated $175 billion over three years to build. The company would be a prime candidate to win subcontracts for this ambitious project. As the Neutron comes on line and Rocket Lab builds up its capabilities and reputation in the space economy, we should see its backlog climb higher. This is a key indicator for investors to watch. The current backlog will have around half of its revenue recognized over the next 12 months, and half in later periods. In order to grow revenue over the long term, the company will need to grow its backlog and win more contracts from government and commercial customers. There is a lot of potential with Rocket Lab's business, but it might all be priced into the stock (and more) right now. It has a market cap of $12.3 billion. Revenue was only $466 million over the last 12 months. The company has never generated a profit and continues to lose money. If the company is successful with its ambitions to build a vertically integrated space company, it will eventually generate billions of dollars in revenue -- perhaps tens of billions 15 to 20 years from now. However, that is a long way off, and the stock looks fully priced versus what the company can accomplish in the next few years. For this reason, the stock looks like one to avoid even with the price under $30. The business may be promising, but the market is getting ahead of itself with Rocket Lab at the moment. This is a high-risk stock to keep out of your portfolio right now. Before you buy stock in Rocket Lab, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Rocket Lab wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $668,538!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $869,841!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 789% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 Brett Schafer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Rocket Lab USA. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Rocket Lab Stock Is Soaring Again: Should You Buy It Under $30? was originally published by The Motley Fool
