RALEIGH, N.C., June 1, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DARA BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:DARAD) today announced that, on May 28 2010, NASDAQ notified the Company that it has regained compliance with the minimum bid price requirement as set forth in NASDAQ Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). On May 26, 2010, the Company's closing bid price was $3.58 per share, the tenth consecutive day it had been above $1 per share. Accordingly, a NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Panel (the "Panel") determined to continue the Company's listing on The NASDAQ Stock Market and the previously announced delisting proceeding is now closed.
On March 16, 2010, DARA received notice from the Listing Qualifications Staff of The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC indicating that the Company had not timely regained compliance with the $1.00 bid price requirement, as set forth in Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). The Company appealed and appeared before the Panel.
About DARA BioSciences, Inc.
DARA BioSciences, Inc. is a Raleigh, North Carolina based biopharmaceutical development company that acquires promising therapeutic candidates and develops them through proof of concept in humans for subsequent sale or out-licensing to larger pharmaceutical companies. Presently DARA has two drug candidates with cleared IND (Investigational New Drug) Applications from the United States FDA and are in clinical study. The Company has a pipeline of diverse drug candidates at various stages of development, with 82 granted patents and 56 pending applications (U.S. and foreign). The first drug candidate KRN5500 has successfully completed a Phase 2 clinical trial treating cancer patients for neuropathic pain. KRN5500 met its primary endpoint and was statistically significantly (p=0.03) better than placebo. A second Phase 2 clinical trial is planned to start during the second half of 2010. The second drug candidate DB959 is a highly selective, non-thiazolidinedione (TZD), first-in-class dual PPAR (peroxisome proliferator activated receptor) delta/gamma agonist in development for type II diabetes. A Phase 1 clinical study for DB959 is underway and the Company plans to announce results in the second half of 2010. In addition, DARA owns CPT-1 inhibitors intended for topical application for patients with psoriasis, a library of DDPIV inhibitors and a diverse library of approximately 1800 PPAR agonists of various molecular modalities. PPAR receptors are found throughout the human body and recent publications report that PPAR agonists may be useful in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, cystic fibrosis, liver disease, and a variety of autoimmune diseases. Because its diverse PPAR library has the potential to address the unmet medical needs of these diseases, the company plans to explore several of these indications.
For more information please contact the Company at 919-872-5578 or visit our web site at http://www.darabio.com.