Cyclerion Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CYCN) stock jumped 30.16% after the company revealed a series of insider purchases. CEO Peter M Hecht, director Terrance Mcguire, and top institutional shareholder Slate Path Capital purchased 1.9 million shares of the company in separate transactions on June 3 for a combined total value of $6.0 million.
Hetch increases his holding in Cyclerion
Hetch and Slate Path capital acquired 823,200 and 961,500 shares at $3.28 and $3.12 per share. The CEO spent $2.7 million to acquire the stock, and the purchases boosted their holding to 67%. Currently, the total insider share purchase at the company stands at $7.4 million, which is the highest since Q2 2019.
Insiders paid US$5.4 million for 1.95 million shares last year. However, they sold 20.11k shares for $61,000. Insiders at Cyclerion Therapeutics were net buys during the last year. Their average cost was around $2.79. Cyclerion Therapeutics insiders appear to control 5.6% of the company, worth around $6.1 million.
Cyclerion enters agreement with Akebia
The company announced an exclusive agreement with Akebia therapeutics on Friday for oral sGC stimulator, praliciguat development, and commercialization. Akebia has secured an exclusive license to study, develop, and market praliciguat globally under the terms of the agreement and will be solely responsible for these efforts going forward. Cyclerion is eligible for pre-commercial milestone payments of up to $225 million, including up to $15 million in the first 18 months. Cyclerion will receive a total of $585 million in milestone payments and tiered sales royalties.
Hetch said that they are delighted to license praliciguat to Akebia. He said that Akebia has demonstrated leadership in kidney disease, making it the ideal partner for praliciguat’s development. The deal gives Cyclerion a significant stake in any potential near- and long-term value creation, allowing the company to develop cognitive impairment treatments CY6463 and CY3018.