AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ACRX)

AcelRx Pharmaceuticals was a California specialty pharmaceutical company that built its business around sublingual formulations of sufentanil, a potent opioid, for managing acute pain in medically supervised settings such as hospitals, surgical centers and the military. Its two main products were DSUVIA, a single 30 microgram sufentanil tablet given under the tongue, and Zalviso, a patient-controlled sublingual tablet system that was approved in Europe.

The company sold shares to the public on the Nasdaq Global Market in February 2011 under the ticker ACRX. The FDA approved DSUVIA in November 2018 for use in certified medically supervised settings, but sales grew slowly amid debate over adding another strong opioid to the market. Like many small drug developers, AcelRx relied on repeated equity raises to fund its operations.

In 2023 AcelRx changed direction. It sold DSUVIA to Alora Pharmaceuticals and refocused on products for hospital and critical care use, including in-licensed pre-filled syringes of ephedrine and phenylephrine from its partner Aguettant, and Niyad, a nafamostat formulation being studied as an anticoagulant for the blood circuit used during dialysis and similar procedures. Niyad received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation. The company also cut costs and reduced its workforce as part of the shift.

To reflect the new strategy, the company announced on January 9, 2024 that it was renaming itself Talphera, Inc. The ticker on Nasdaq changed from ACRX to TLPH the following day. Shareholders did not need to exchange their shares, and the company continued as the same legal entity, so the ACRX history continues under the TLPH symbol. Talphera kept its Nasdaq listing on the same market tier.