Shares of Opko Health Inc. (NYSE:OPK) ended Friday session in red amid volatile trading. The shares closed down -0.01 points or -0.10% at $10.42 with 2.32 million shares getting traded. Post opening the session at $10.55, the shares hit an intraday low of $10.11 and an intraday high of $10.55 and the price vacillated in this range throughout the day. The company has a market cap of $5.70 billion and the numbers of outstanding shares have been calculated to be 547.44 million shares.
Opko Health Inc. (OPK) on 27 May, 2016 announced that Novitas Solutions has issued a draft local coverage determination for the 4Kscore® Test, the only blood test that accurately identifies an individual patient’s risk for high-grade, aggressive prostate cancer. Novitas Solutions is a Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) for Medicare jurisdictions L and H, with responsibility for nearly 10 million Medicare beneficiaries in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, the District of Columbia and Texas, among other geographies.
The draft local coverage determination is posted to the Medicare Coverage Database on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) website, and proposes to establish reimbursement coverage for patients with PSA levels >3 ng/mL who have not yet had a biopsy, or patients with a PSA level of >3 ng/mL who have had at least one prior negative biopsy and are considered to be at higher risk.
“This first MAC determination is a major milestone for the 4Kscore Test as it expands access to a potentially life-saving tool,” said Phillip Frost, M.D., OPKO’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We believe this decision by Novitas will help accelerate further coverage decisions by other payers, and will encourage adoption of the 4Kscore Test by physicians and patients. More importantly, it will allow broader access to this important test, which can assist patients and physicians in further defining a patient’s risk of having a high-grade prostate cancer that requires immediate or aggressive treatment.”
Shares of Atossa Genetics Inc (NASDAQ:ATOS) ended Friday session in green amid volatile trading. The shares closed up +0.032 points or 11.55% at $0.310 with 2.23 million shares getting traded. Post opening the session at $0.30, the shares hit an intraday low of $0.29 and an intraday high of $0.38 and the price vacillated in this range throughout the day. The company has a market cap of $13.43 million and the numbers of outstanding shares have been calculated to be 38.82 million shares.
Atossa Genetics Inc (ATOS) on May 27, 2016 announced that it has entered into a $10 million stock purchase agreement with Aspire Capital Fund, LLC. Under terms of the agreement, after the SEC declares the registration statement related to the transaction effective, Aspire has committed to purchase up to $10 million of Atossa’s common stock over 30 months, based on prevailing market prices over a period preceding each sale.
“Aspire Capital has been an important financial partner over the past three years and we look forward to continuing our work together to execute on our business objectives,” stated Kyle Guse, Chief Financial Officer of Atossa Genetics. “This financial arrangement will provide us with the financial resources and flexibility so that we can raise equity based on favorable market conditions and our evolving working capital needs.”
“We are very pleased to continue our financial relationship with Atossa,” said Steve Martin, Principal of Aspire Capital. “We are very excited about Atossa’s Phase II clinical program and are happy to be part of Atossa’s progress.”