KemPharm has unveiled a new name, Zevra Therapeutics, as part of its rebranding to reflect its focus on rare diseases “with limited or no treatment options,” the company announced Wednesday.

Zevra is the Greek name for zebra — a term often used in reference to rare diseases or patients with rare diseases. The company will trade under the list name “ZVRA” on the Nasdaq Global Select Market starting March 1.

Adopting the name is “an important step in our journey to become a leading rare disease company since the zebra is the recognized symbol of the rare disease community around the world,” Zevra CEO Richard Pascoe said in a statement. “[W]e renew our unwavering commitment to stand with this important community as we pursue our primary mission to deliver life-changing treatments to people with rare conditions, their families and caregivers who desperately need better options.”

The rebranding comes about a month after KemPharm announced it would be making changes to its executive leadership team and board of directors as part of a “business transformation.” 

In that restructuring effort, Pascoe joined as CEO, Travis Mickle stepped into the role of president and Joshua Schafer was named chief commercial officer and EVP of business development.

In January, KemPharm also promoted Sven Guenther to chief scientific officer, and Christal Mickle to chief product development officer.

The company highlighted its two main pipeline candidates, including arimoclomol, an oral treatment for Niemann-Pick type C disease (NPC) that it acquired from Orphazyme A/S in May 2022. KemPharm plans to resubmit a new drug application for arimoclomol to the Food and Drug Administration later this year.

KemPharm also plans to further explore an idiopathic hypersomnia treatment, KP1077, which is currently in a Phase II trial for the rare sleep disorder. In November 2022, KP1077 received an orphan drug designation from the FDA.“The launch of the Zevra brand today marks the next key step in our evolution into a commercially-focused rare disease therapeutics company,” Matthew Plooster, chairman of Zevra’s board of directors, said in a statement. “The Zevra team is actively leveraging their deep scientific and clinical expertise and strategic approach to overcome drug development and regulatory barriers to advance much-needed solutions to the people who need them.”