Acadia Pharma rises following private stock sale

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. advanced Wednesday after the drugmaker announced a private sale of its stock worth $86.4 million.

The San Diego company sold the stock for $4.43 per share, the closing price of Acadia shares on Tuesday. Based on that price, the company is selling almost 2 million shares.

The company said it will use the proceeds of the sale to fund the completion of late-stage clinical testing of its drug candidate pimavanserin, designed to treat psychosis in patients with Parkinson's disease. In November it reported successful results from a late-stage trial.

Acadia shares rose 71 cents, or 16 percent, to $5.14 in afternoon trading.