false 0000786947 0000786947 2026-05-05 2026-05-05 iso4217:USD xbrli:shares iso4217:USD xbrli:shares UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D. C. 20549 FORM 8-K CURRENT REPORT Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act Of 1934 Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): May 5, 2026 ACURA
PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (Exact Name of Registrant as specified in its
Charter) New York 1-10113 11-0853640 (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) (Commission File Number) (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) 616
N. North Court , Suite 120 Palatine , Illinois 60067 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip
code) ( 847 ) 705-7709 (Registrant’s telephone number, including
area code) Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Title of Each Class Trading Symbol(s) Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered Common
    Stock, $0.01 par value per share ACUR OTC Market – OTC Expert Market Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K
filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions: ¨ Written
                                            communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) ¨ Soliciting
                                            material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) ¨ Pre-commencement
                                            communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17CFR240.14d-2(b)) ¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under
the Exchange Act (17CFR 240.13e-4(c)) Indicate by check mark whether the registrant
is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter). Emerging
Growth Company ¨ If
an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying
with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨ Item 1.01 - Entry into a Material Definitive
Agreement. On each of March 30, 2026, April 3, 2026, April
20, 2026 and May 5, 2026, we received loans of $100,000 from Abuse Deterrent Pharma, LLC (“AD Pharma”). These loans combined
with previous loans made to the Company and combined with the $2,319,279 under the November 10, 2022 Amended Consolidated and Restated
Secured Promissory Note, now has a principal balance of $10,294,279 with accrued interest of approximately $1,090,000 as of May 5, 2026,
and bears interest at 5.25% (“Note”). The Events of default under the Note include, among other items, bankruptcy events,
failure to pay interest and principal when due and such failure continues for 5 days, and if Acura is generally not, or is unable to,
or admits in writing its inability to, pay its debts as those debts become due. If any amount payable hereunder is not paid when due (without
regard to any applicable grace periods), whether at stated maturity, by acceleration, or otherwise, including upon an event of default,
such overdue amount shall bear interest at the rate per annum of 7.5% from the date of such non-payment until such amount is paid in full. The funding provided by AD Pharma will be used
to meet day-to-day operation activity. There can be no assurance we will be successful in receiving additional financing. In the absence
of the receipt of additional financing by end of May 2026, we will be required to scale back our operations, including the furlough and
lay-off of employees, or to terminate operations and/or seek protection under applicable bankruptcy laws. This could result in a complete
loss of shareholder value in the Company. Even assuming we are successful in securing additional sources of financing to fund continued
operations, there can be no assurance that the proceeds of such financing will be sufficient to fund operations until such time, if at
all, that we generate sufficient revenue from our products and product candidates to sustain and grow our operation. The inclusion of a description of the Note under
Item 1.01 of this Current Report on Form 8-K shall not be deemed an acknowledgement that the Note is a material agreement not made, or
deemed not to be made, in the ordinary course of our business. At April 30, 2026, AD Pharma directly owns approximately
65% of the outstanding common stock of the Company. The ownership percentage of the Company held by AD Pharma does not include their warrant
to purchase 10.0 million shares of common stock of the Company. AD Pharma is an entity controlled by Mr. Schutte, of which Mr. Schutte
is the managing partner and investor. At April 30, 2026, Mr. Schutte directly owns approximately 13% of the outstanding common stock of
the Company. Item 2.01 – Completion of Acquisition
or Disposition of Assets The contents of all Items 1.01 are incorporated herein by reference. Item 2.03 - Creation of a Direct Financial
Obligation or an Obligation under an Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement of a Registrant The contents of all Items 1.01 are incorporated herein by reference. Acura Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this Current
Report constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and these forward-looking
statements are made in reliance on the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance,
or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
may include, but are not limited to: · whether
the FDA will agree with or accept the results of our studies for our product candidates; · the
ability to fulfill the FDA requirements for approving our product candidates for commercial manufacturing and distribution in the United
States, including, without limitation, the adequacy of the results of the laboratory and clinical studies completed to date, the results
of laboratory and clinical studies we may complete in the future to support FDA approval of our product candidates and the sufficiency
of our development process to meet over-the-counter (“OTC”) Monograph standards, as applicable; · whether
we can successfully submit a New Drug Application for LTX-03, request a priority review and whether such filings and requests will be
accepted by the FDA; · our
ability to obtain funding from Abuse Deterrent Pharma, LLC or other parties for our continuing operations, including the development
of our products utilizing our LIMITx™ and Impede® technologies; · whether
we can renegotiate the date by which we are required to obtain FDA acceptance, currently June 30, 2026, for an NDA for LTX-03 by our
agreement with Abuse Deterrent Pharma, LLC on which we depend to finance operations; · whether
we can renegotiate the date by which we are required to pay off the secured promissory note and accrued interest to Abuse Deterrent Pharma,
LLC, currently June 30, 2026; 2 · whether
our licensing partners will develop any additional products and utilize Acura for such development; · the
expected results of clinical studies relating to LTX-03, a LIMITx hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen combination product, or any
successor product candidate, the date by which such studies will be complete and the results will be available and whether LTX-03 will
ultimately receive FDA approval; · our
business could be adversely affected by health epidemics in regions where third parties for which we rely, as in CROs or CMOs, have concentrations
of clinical trial sites or other business operations, and could cause significant disruption in the operations of third-party manufacturers
and CROs upon whom we rely; · whether
LIMITx will retard the release of opioid active ingredients as dose levels increase; · whether
the extent to which products formulated with the LIMITx Technology reduce respiratory depression will be determined sufficient by the
FDA to support approval or labelling describing safety features; · our
and our licensee’s ability to successfully launch and commercialize our products and technologies; · the
results and timing of our development of our LIMITx Technology, including, but not limited to, the submission of a NDA and/or FDA filing
acceptance; · our
or our licensees’ ability to obtain necessary regulatory approvals and commercialize products utilizing our technologies; · the
market acceptance of, timing of commercial launch and competitive environment for any of our products; · expectations
regarding potential market share for our products; · our
ability to develop and enter into additional license agreements for our product candidates using our technologies; · our
exposure to product liability and other lawsuits in connection with the commercialization of our products; · the
increasing cost of insurance and the availability of product liability insurance coverage; · the
ability to avoid infringement of patents, trademarks and other proprietary rights of third parties; · the
ability of our patents to protect our products from generic competition and our ability to protect and enforce our patent rights in any
paragraph IV patent infringement litigation; · the
adequacy of the development program for our product candidates, including whether additional clinical studies will be required to support
FDA approval of our product candidates; · changes
in regulatory requirements; · adverse
safety findings relating to our commercialized products or product candidates in development; · whether
the FDA will agree with our analysis of our clinical and laboratory studies; · whether
or when we are able to obtain FDA approval of labeling for our product candidates for the proposed indications and whether we will be
able to promote the features of our technologies; and · whether
our product candidates will ultimately perform as intended in commercial settings. In
some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “aim”, "anticipate", "believe",
"could", "design", "estimate", "expect", "forecast", "goal", "guidance",
"imply", “indicate”, "intend", "may", "objective", "opportunity", "outlook",
"plan", "position", "potential", "predict", "project", "prospective", "pursue",
"seek", "should", "strategy", "target", "would", "will", and other words of similar meaning, expressions, derivations of such words and the use of future dates intended
to identify forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on assumptions
and subject to risks and uncertainties. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
We discuss many of these risks in greater detail in Acura’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q
filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and in other filings Acura makes with the SEC from time to time.
Investors and potential investors are urged not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements in this communication, which speak
only as of this date of the Current Report and are based on the Company’s current beliefs, assumptions, and expectations. While
Acura may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, it specifically disclaims any obligation to update
or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this Current Report whether as a result of new information or future events, except
as may be required by applicable law. Item 9.01 - Financial Statements and Exhibits Exhibit Number Description 99.1 Amended Loan Schedule dated May 5, 2026 to the November 10, 2022 Amended, Consolidated and Restated Secured Promissory Note with Abuse Deterrent Pharma, LLC 104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within Inline XBRL document) 3 SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized. ACURA
    PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. By: /s/
    Robert A. Seiser Robert
    A. Seiser Senior
    Vice President & Chief Financial Officer Date: May 7, 2026 4

Acura Pharmaceuticals received a $100,000 loan from Abuse Deterrent Pharma, LLC on May 5, 2026, bringing total outstanding principal to $10.3 million with $1.09 million in accrued interest. This secured debt arrangement raises concerns about the company's liquidity position and operational sustainability.

On May 5, 2026, Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. entered into a material definitive agreement by receiving a loan of $100,000 from Abuse Deterrent Pharma, LLC, as part of a series of loans which have cumulatively raised the principal balance to $10,294,279 with accrued interest of approximately $1,090,000 as of the same date. This agreement also involves a previously established Amended Consolidated and Restated Secured Promissory Note initially dated November 10, 2022. The loans are secured against the company's assets and are subject to events of default, including the company's inability to pay debts as they come due. This financial arrangement has significant implications for Acura's operational liquidity and ongoing business strategy, particularly given the stringent conditions specified in the Note.

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