(Bloomberg) -- VTv Therapeutics Inc. doubled at the open Friday after majority holder billionaire Ronald Perelman and his MacAndrews & Forbes Group bought more shares ahead of a critical Alzheimer's study readout.
Investors have been closely following a mid-stage study of an experimental medicine for mild Alzheimer's disease that is expected to have results sometime in December. While neurological diseases are notoriously hard to treat, there's hope that positive data could let VTv advance azeliragon into late-stage trials.
VTv exercised its right to compel MacAndrews & Forbes to buy up 625,000 shares, according to a filing. MacAndrews & Forbes holds a roughly 71% stake according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Read more: Perelman Selling Almost Everything as Pandemic Roils His Empire
The shares climbed as high as $4.75 shortly after the open Friday, a gain of 117%. Volume topped 45 million shares in the first half hour of trading against a daily average of less than 800,000. VTv's public float is fewer than 51 million shares and the stock had climbed 29% this year through Thursday's close.
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