What happened
Shares of Acadia Pharmaceuticals(NASDAQ: ACAD) were soaring 18.3% higher as of 11:03 a.m. ET on Friday. The big jump came after the drugmaker announced on Thursday that it has acquired expanded rights to two drugs.
Acadia signed an agreement with Neuren Pharmaceuticals to pick up rights to trofinetide outside of North America. It launched the drug under the brand name Daybue in the U.S. earlier this year as a treatment for Rett syndrome, a rare genetic neurological disorder.
The company also acquired global rights for Neuren's NNZ-2591. This experimental drug is being evaluated in clinical trials targeting Rett syndrome and Fragile X syndrome, another rare genetic disorder.
In addition, Acadia provided an update giving a sneak peek at its second-quarter revenue. The company expects to report second-quarter net sales of Daybue of between $21 million and $23 million and net sales of Parkinson's disease psychosis drug Nuplazid of between $140 million and $144 million.
Acadia looks for third-quarter sales of Daybue in the range of $45 million to $55 million. It projects full-year sales of Nuplazid will be between $530 million and $545 million.
So what
Investors had a lot to digest -- and a lot to like -- with Acadia's latest news.
The expanded agreement with Neuren appears to be a smart move. For an up-front payment of $100 million along with potential milestone payments and royalties in the future, Acadia gets access to a much larger market for Daybue as well as a promising new program.
Acadia's preliminary second-quarter results and guidance were also encouraging. Daybue's U.S. launch seems to be going well. Nuplazid's sales jumped close to 20% from the previous quarter.
Now what
Investors will learn the exact sales figures for Daybue and Nuplazid when Acadia provides its second-quarter update, which should be sometime in August. The company also plans to file for approval of trofinetide in Canada within the next 18 months. Acadia expects to announce its plans for pursuing approvals of the drug in Europe, Asia, and other regions later.
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Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
