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NovaBay Loses Penny Stock Stigma After Taking Eye Drug Online

NovaBay Loses Penny Stock Stigma After Taking Eye Drug Online

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of NovaBay Pharmaceuticals Inc., which sold for a record-low 23 cents in mid-May, rallied to more than $3 on Monday after the company said it would sell its eye drug without a prescription on Amazon.com.

The company shed its penny-stock status with a 950% surge, the biggest gain since its 2007 market debut. People wanting to remove debris around their eyes from dry eye or an inflammation known as blepharitis can now get NovaBay’s Avenova, a hypochlorous acid spray, without a prescription for $29.99.

NovaBay Loses Penny Stock Stigma After Taking Eye Drug Online

The move comes after NovaBay’s general counsel Justin Hall took over over as interim president and chief executive in March. Avenova sales have suffered as the company wrestled with securing insurer reimbursement. Last month, it reported first-quarter sales of $1.5 million and ended the quarter with $2.9 million cash. The struggling small-cap didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment about whether there might be a cash raise in the near future.

To contact the reporter on this story: Cristin Flanagan in New York at cflanagan1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net, Richard Richtmyer

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