Biopharmaceutical company Aptorum Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:APM) saw its pre-market stock price on Tuesday jump by nearly 300 percent, with investor optimism fueled by the company’s improved earnings performance during the first half of the year.
A stethoscope. Photo by Pixabay
As of 8:49 AM, the company’s share price was already trading as much as 270.48 percent at $5.02 apiece.
Last week, Aptorum Group was able to narrow its losses by 59 percent to $2.7 million, as compared with the $6.6 million registered in the same period last year on the back of $4.1 million lower operating expenses, due to the implementation of stringent budgetary control measures.
Research and development expenses also decreased to $2 million in the said period, down by 37.5 percent from the $3.2 million spent year-on-year, as a result of the company’s shift in focus toward its supposed merger plan with Yoov Group Holdings.
Aptorum scraps merger plan with Yoov
Earlier this year, Aptorum announced that it entered into a merger agreement with business AI automation solutions provider Yoov Group Holding Ltd.
Under the transaction, Yoov shareholders will own approximately 90 percent of the merged company, while Aptorum shareholders will own the remaining 10 percent.
The transaction was classified as a reverse merger as Yoov shareholders were supposed to gain a majority stake.
However, both companies in October this year announced that they were terminating the plan.
“Our team and Yoov have spent considerable time and effort on the due diligence process, the negotiation of definitive terms, and the preparation of necessary transactional and listing documentation. However, current market conditions have introduced significant uncertainty regarding the availability of the required funding for the transaction,” said Aptorum Group Chief Executive Officer Ian Huen.
“After careful consideration, our Board has determined that it is no longer in the best interests of our shareholders to proceed with this transaction. Despite this, we will continue to explore other business combination opportunities that we believe will enhance shareholder value,” he noted.
Aptorum Group is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutic assets to treat diseases with unmet medical needs, particularly in oncology (including orphan oncology indications) and infectious diseases.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.