Benzinga | Feb 18, 2021 09:27AM EST

Hoth Therapeutics Plans To Test HT-003 API In Inflammatory Bowel Disorders; Shares Spike

* Hoth Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: HOTH) plans to expand the development of the HT-003 active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) to pursue a new indication for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The company has executed an option agreement with Isoprene Pharmaceuticals to investigate the potential.

* In preclinical studies, the API of HT-003 has shown encouraging anti-inflammatory action and targets the retinoic acid metabolism pathway.

* HT-003 can potentially inhibit the TLR2 signaling pathway, thus suggesting the effectiveness of this drug candidate not only for acne but in a broad range of diseases driven by overactive inflammatory responses to bacteria.

* Hoth plans to investigate the therapeutic potential of the HT-003 API using relevant ex vivo tissue models and other in vitro molecular studies. This work will complement Hoth's current research activities investigating the therapeutic potential of HT-003 for the treatment of acne and psoriasis.

* Price Action: HOTH gains 3.3% at $3.13 in premarket trading on last check Thursday.