Relief Therapeutics Holding Surges on Corporate Update

Relief ticker, $RLFTF, has surged in the last couple of days on positive news. This is not a sponsored post, I’m just an investor who is bullish about this company’s future prospects, pipeline and management. Full disclosure, I do hold a modest position in the stock.

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Yesterday they provided a detailed corporate update, outlining, among other matters, the ongoing clinical development and regulatory activities, as well as plans to accelerate the maturation of their diversified pipeline.

This includes information regarding their continued commitment to the development of RLF-100™ (aviptadil); their key focus on establishing U.S. commercial operations and initiating market rollout of a lead commercial product, PKU GOLIKE®, for the treatment of phenylketonuria; plans for other promising programs in their pipeline; and information on their capital resources and U.S. ADR listing plans.

The Swiss biotech continues to build a diversified portfolio and a pipeline of products. Meanwhile the OTC market continues to be in a bear market, where inflation is increasing retail investors’ percentage of their portfolio into crypto, meaningfully reducing the penny stock (micro cap) market.

Here are some highlights:

RLF-100

  • Relief remains committed to the development of RLF-100™ (aviptadil) for the treatment of the respiratory complications of COVID-19 infection.
  • A clinical program remains underway in Europe for inhalation-based administration, while the ACTIVE-3b/TESICO study sponsored by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) assessing the intravenous formulation and the I-SPY trial sponsored by Quantum Leap testing the inhaled formulation also remain ongoing.
  • Further, the parent company of Relief’s U.S. collaboration partner has publicly reported that they are continuing to conduct an investigational study of inhaled aviptadil in the U.S. as well.
  • Relief continues to pursue aviptadil for the treatment of pulmonary sarcoidosis, and authorization to commence a phase 2 randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial in this indication was recently granted by the German medical regulatory authorities.

With Covid-19 now raging in a Fifth wave in Europe it appears winter 2022 will be quite difficult as pandemic fatigue sets in and the world sees a fresh influx of cases, hospitalizations and new mortalities. RLF-100 could meaningfully reduce ICU death rates given the studies that we have seen so far. This is related to ticker $NRXP.

For a small biotech company Relief has a surprising number of initiatives. In August 2021, Relief announced the receipt of U.S. Orphan Drug Designation for the use of aviptadil in treatment of sarcoidosis.

Relief also intends to explore the clinical utility of aviptadil in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) unrelated to COVID-19 infection, as well as in other pulmonary disorders, including chronic beryllium disease (berylliosis) and checkpoint inhibitor-induced pneumonitis (CIP), in which AdVita has filed pending patent claims. Finally, Relief is also working to optimize the formulation of aviptadil.

NRx Legal Dispute Continues

As previously reported, in October 2021 Relief filed a lawsuit against NeuroRx, Inc. (NeuroRx) and its Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Jonathan Javitt, for multiple breaches of the Collaboration Agreement between Relief and NeuroRx relating to the development and commercialization of RLF-100™ (aviptadil).

  • The complaint alleges, among other breaches of the Collaboration Agreement, that NeuroRx has failed to provide Relief with the full data set from NeuroRx’s recently completed phase 2b/3 clinical trial evaluating IV RLF-100™ (aviptadil) for the treatment of acute respiratory failure due to COVID-19 (which data and information are required to be provided to Relief by NeuroRx under the Collaboration Agreement) and has failed to allow Relief to have input into NeuroRx’s U.S. development program.
  • Without doubt, Relief was disappointed that Emergency Use Authorization for aviptadil in the United States was denied. However, this decision by FDA does not affect Relief’s commitment to the further development of this drug.

Relief has been very professional and factual in its corporate updates in spite of the drama to shareholders and its own reputation. I myself am still optimistic about their pipeline even if the EUA surrounding RLF-100 is delayed or never manifests fully in the original partnership with NRx.

Penny Stocks are Volatile By Nature

Remember, the stock was recently just $0.05. Now it’s 2 cents higher again. It seems to have gone between $0.055 and $0.10 in recent days and weeks. But how much is the company intrinsically worth with all its initiatives? I would say conservatively at least $0.30 to $0.40 and likely much more. However the OTC market is suppressed in this equity bubble where “everything is a winner”, seemingly putting micro cap and penny stocks as the odd man out.

You can read what else Relief is up to here.

Realistically many investors of Relief are down anywhere from 40% to 70%. This is not unusual since the OTC bear market began in February 2021. So long as crypto is going up in a speculative way I do not see the OTC market easily recovering given inflation, tax hikes in-coming and a stagflationary environment where an economic recovery and the reality of the pandemic are continually strikingly at odds.

It’s really important to understand all the initiatives Relief is undertaking as a company to make it a diversified biotech company. The lure of its Covid-19 play is impressive considering the data so far as RLF-100 how shown data on its ability to substantially improve ICU outcomes in patients with serious Covid-19.

With Europe again in crisis and the U.S. and Russia with deteriorating healthcare systems, the ICU becomes the last battleground of the next 5 million lives at stake. With a lack of great treatments and antivirals and a more contagious Delta plus variant, RLF-100 in the form of Zyesami has a potentially very important place in the future of emergency care.

Relief and NRx are a Buy the Dip Investing Play for Swing Traders or Long-Term Investors

The stock of $NRXP is down to $6 which is surprisingly for the volatility of its meme popularity. Any positive news and it could easily go back up to $10 or higher. It’s volatility for a swing trader has been nearly as consistent as $OCGN. The intersection of Covid-19 stocks and being a meme stock is very lucrative potentially on good news for Zyesami in the coming weeks and months.

Relief, being on the OTC and a smaller Swiss biotech company, does not suffer from the same meme-like volatility. However the micro cap correction has been severe. For this reason we feel $RLFTF at the bottom is a solid long-term investment.

Do not mistake the OTC bear market for weakness in $RLFTF business growth and pipeline evolution. Relief as a stock isn’t even down as much as the OTC average. Even in the middle of a legal dispute around RLF-100, Relief remains one of the best biotech investments to make in 2021 or 2022. Investors are advised to exercise patience in holding their stock.

I’m so confident about this company I keep writing about it on a consistent basis. See my archives on it here. You can follow them on LinkedIn here. RLF-100 remains one of the most impactful treatments for Delta plus in 2022 and 2023. See their corporate website here.

You can read my futurist, business and investing content on StockQuest where I give buy calls and stock alerts to my premium members.

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