Vivani Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:VANI) shares are trading higher Thursday after the company announced the FDA cleared the Investigational New Drug application and lifted the clinical hold on NPM-119.

The Details:

The FDA's actions clear the way for the initiation of Vivani's LIBERATE-1 Phase 1 clinical trial to assess the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of NPM-119, the company's miniature, six-month GLP-1 implant in development for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

"Today marks a significant milestone for Vivani as we transition to a clinical-stage company with a promising drug candidate that has the potential to address medication non-adherence, which affects approximately 50% of patients with type 2 diabetes. LIBERATE-1 represents our first-in-human study of NPM-119 in type 2 diabetes patients, as well as the first clinical application of our innovative NanoPortal implant technology in humans," said Adam Mendelsohn, Ph.D., Vivani's CEO.

Vivani shares are moving on heavy trading volume following the company's announcement. According to data from Benzinga Pro, more than 11.7 million shares have already been traded in the session, compared to the stock's 100-day average of less than 174,000 shares.

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How To Buy VANI Stock:

By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Vivani Medical – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.

Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy 'fractional shares,' which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share. For example, some stock, like Berkshire Hathaway, can cost thousands of dollars to own just one share. However, if you only want to invest a fraction of that, brokerages will allow you to do so.

If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to 'go short' a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.

VANI Price Action: According to Benzinga Pro, Vivani Medical shares are up 3% at $1.68 at the time of publication Thursday.

Image: Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay