Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Palatine, IL United States

  (NASDAQ: ACUR)

Company Description

Acura Pharmaceuticals is working to provide accurate drug dosages without allowing for abuse. The company has developed a technology to add abuse-deterring agents to commonly abused pharmaceuticals. If a drug with these agents (what Acura calls Aversion Technology) is crushed and inhaled, certain ingredients will cause nasal irritation, and if an abuser attempts to dissolve the powder, it will form a non-injectable gel. Other Aversion Technology oral ingredients can cause stomach discomfort if taken in excess. Lead product candidate Oxecta, which combines Aversion Technology with the commonly abused opioid painkiller oxycodone HCl, gained FDA approval in 2011.