Local company rings NASDAQ opening bell after $14 million IPO

TAMPA —Officials from Alzamend Neuro were in Times Square Monday morning July 12 to ring the opening bell at the NASDAQ exchange just days shy of the one-month anniversary of its IPO and as it awaits federal approval to begin early study on a drug to treat Alzheimer's Disease.

The team in attendance to ring the bell included company founder and chairman emeritus Milton “Todd” Ault III, CEO Stephan Jackman and board chairman William B. Horne. Alzamend is a Tampa-based preclinical stage biopharmaceutical company that is working on products to treat Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, according to a statement. 

The company says its mission is “driven by the belief that strong support of research is the foundation for true innovation.”

Monday’s bell ringing was meant to celebrate the company’s listing last month on the NASDAQ Capital Market. It is trading under the ticker symbol ALZN.

Alzamend announced June 17 that it raised $14.4 million from the IPO.

In his speech before ringing the bell, Jackman called the IPO an “important milestone that Alzamend has achieved for its stockholders, its associates and for all who continue to suffer from the debilitating effects of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

Jackman said Alzamend is a company with many investors, “investors who are sick and tired of seeing their loved ones perish from Alzheimer’s disease. Sick and tired of seeing sufferers waiting for a slot in a clinical study to become available. And sick and tired of victims of this dreadful disease not having enough treatment options. Well today, we are proud to say that we may have options”

On June 30, the company announced it had submitted an investigational new drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin a Phase 1 clinical study of AL001.

The company says AL001 is a lithium-based ionic cocrystal oral therapy for patients with dementia related to mild, moderate and severe cognitive impairment associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The first-in-human study is to determine “potential clinically safe and appropriate AL001 dosing in future studies.”  

Once the initial study is done, Alzamend says that it will start a Phase 1/2a clinical trial aimed at gauging the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and preliminary efficacy of the drug in patients with Alzheimer’s.

Subsequent studies before final approval will look at dosing as well as the effectiveness and safety of the drug. The company say AL001 treatment has shown in preclinical studies to prevents cognitive deficits, depression and irritability in mice.

Speaking in New York Monday, Jackman said AL001 may wind up being able treat illnesses other than Alzheimer’s and dementia, including PTSD, bipolar disorder and depression.