Novan Therapeutics says it’s going to push ahead with development of its proposed acne treatment drug even though the company said it had been “disappointed” with trial results that in January triggered a 75 percent stock price plunge.

The go-ahead news triggered an 8.8 percent surge in Novan’s stock price, up 56 cents to close Monday at $6.95.

Early in the day shares rose as high as $8.19.

The company, which went public last September after raising some $80 million in financing in 2015, says it has enough cash for operations “through the end of this year” and hopes to submit a new drug application for its SB204 candidate “in the first quarter of 2018.”

In an announcement made early Monday before the markets opened, Novan (Nasdaq: NOVN) said executives decided to move ahead after “an in-depth examination of the data sets and engaged consultants in biostatistics and regulatory affairs.”

Novan, which opened a new facility last fall in Morrisville, plans to “pursue a pre-submission meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration” to discuss SB204 later this year.

“The safety and tolerability of SB204 was evident from the trials conducted to date, and we look forward to moving ahead with the program,” said Nathan Stasko, Novan’s CEO. “We remain committed to delivering the prescribing community a safe, non-antibiotic alternative to help combat the widespread overuse of antibiotics in the treatment of acne and look forward to working with regulatory bodies around the world in making this meaningful innovation available for patients.”

To fund further development, which would include a “well-controlled trial” and operations “beyond 2017”, Novan also said that its management “is reviewing a number of potential financing options, including non-dilutive partnership opportunities across the Company’s pipeline, as well as traditional private and public equity financings.”

Trial result reaction

In January, Stasko said the company was “pleased” with a successful trial but “disappointed with the discordant results” of the second trial.

The Durham-based company hasn’t yet received the full data set but will provide an update on the acne drug program after more analysis, he said.

The positive data from the one trial suggests that the drug might not be dead yet.

Acne affects about 40 million to 50 million Americans each year, according to Novan’s website. The company’s future isn’t completely dependent on the success of this SB204 drug, though.

Novan has a handful of other drugs that are currently in development, including two drugs that are in phase 2 trials — SB206, a treatment for genital warts and SB208 for nail fungus.