EXCLUSIVE: Citius Pharmaceuticals CEO Myron Holubiak Talks Company Advantages

Myron Holubiak, president and CEO of Citius Pharmaceuticals Inc CTXR, appeared Thursday at Benzinga's Global Small Cap Conference for an exclusive interview.

The name Citius Pharmaceuticals comes from the Olympic motto "Citius, Altius, Fortius," which is Latin for "Faster, Higher, Stronger," Holubiak told Benzinga. 

The Citius CEO told Benzinga that he and executive chairman Leonard Mazur have collectively invested $26 million in the company.

Mino-Lok: Citius' lead asset Mino-Lok is an antibiotic lock solution drug that is used in the treatment of catheter-related bloodstream infections. Mino-Lok is in late stage three clinical studies, Holubiak said.

When a catheter gets infected, the current solution is the costly and painful procedure of removing and replacing it. Complications with the remove and replace procedure include infection, thrombosis, occlusion and mechanical complications, he said, adding that removal and reinsertion causes physical and psychological symptoms in 57%-67% of patients. 

Mino-Lok is the only therapy that could be used to sterilize and salvage an infected catheter, Holubiak said. To date, the company has a 100% success rate in salvaging catheters with Mino-Lok, he added. 

Citius Subsidiary: NoveCite is a subsidiary of Citius Pharmaceuticals working on a new age cellular therapy drug.

The goal of NoveCite is to develop, manufacture and commercialize mesenchymal stem cells.The drug is a therapeutic that treats acute respiratory distress syndrome and can potentially be used to treat COVID-19, Holubiak said. 

The company performed a sheep study that showed strong beneficial effects of the drug, which the Citius CEO said is "very indicative that we have something exceptional on our hands."

Citius registered warrants earlier this year that raised sufficient capital, so the company is not planning to do any offerings in the near future, Holubiak told Benzinga. 

Total Addressable Market: 

• Catheter-related bloodstream infection market is $1.8 billion
• Tissue expander infection market is $400 million
• Hemorrhoid market is $2 billion in the U.S.

Price Action: Citius lost 9.57% Thursday, closing at $1.89.