A P Pharma, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company developing products using its proprietary Biochronomer polymer-based drug delivery platform, has changed its name to Heron Therapeutics, Inc. and effected a 1-for-20 reverse stock split, both effective January 13.

The company announced that the reverse split is being implemented to increase its stock price in support of its pending application to list on the NASDAQ Capital Market. The company expects to list on NASDAQ by the end of January. The company's trading symbol will be "APPAD" for up to 20 trading days after the split to designate that it is trading on a post-reverse split basis. Upon listing on NASDAQ, the trading symbol will change to "HRTX".

In addition, the company announced the appointment of three new independent directors, effective January 13, 2014. They are John Poyhonen, president and chief executive officer of Senomyx, Inc., Kimberly Manhard, senior vice president of regulatory affairs and development operations at Ardea Biosciences, a subsidiary of AstraZeneca PLC, and Craig Johnson, a senior advisor and consultant in the biopharma industry.

Regarding the appointments, Barry Quart, PharmD, chief executive officer of Heron Therapeutics, said, "2014 promises to be a landmark year for Heron. As we advance our lead drug candidate, Sustol, toward a planned commercial launch, advance our post-operative pain programme to clinical studies and further exploit our polymer-based platform, the combined operations, strategic and financial expertise of these veterans will be invaluable."

Heron Therapeutics' lead product candidate, Sustol - formerly known as APF530, is being developed for the prevention of both acute- and delayed-onset chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting or CINV.

“ As we pursue a new vision for Heron Therapeutics, we are excited to be adding to our board seasoned executives with the wealth of experience that John, Kimberly and Craig bring,” said Barry D. Quart, PharmD, chief executive officer of Heron Therapeutics. “ 2014 promises to be a landmark year for Heron. As we advance our lead drug candidate, Sustol, toward a planned commercial launch , advance our post - operative pain program to clinical studies and further exploit our polymer - based platform, the combined operations, strategic and financial expertise of these veterans will be invaluable.”