By Sam Boughedda
Investing.com -- Opiant Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OPNT) stock jumped 29% Friday and swiftly sank after a discredited announcement, which appeared as a fake news release.
The companies named in the release immediately denied it. The "unauthorized" statement said Opiant and Hikma Pharmaceuticals (OTC:HKMPY) were in a $225 million commercialization and license agreement for an opiod overdose treatment.
PR Newswire, which distributed the press release, also released a disregard note, saying that the release was "unauthorized by all parties mentioned and appears to be fraudulent."
Opiant and Hikma have confirmed they are not involved in any discussions.
"Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (Hikma) confirms that it has not entered into any transaction with Opiant Pharmaceuticals, contrary to a PR Newswire announcement issued today," Hikma said.
Opiant said they were "the subject of a fake news release," and it had "no knowledge of the press release issued by Cision PR Newswire, and it is fake."
The denials have resulted in a sharp fall for Opiant stock, which is now up just 4.8% from Thursday's close.