Thursday, August 14, 2008

Exact Sciences hit with Nasdaq delisting notice

By Mass High Tech Staff

Exact Sciences Corp. plans to request a hearing with the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC in order to prevent the company’s pending delistment from the exchange, the company reports.

Exact (Nasdaq: EXAS) was notified by Nasdaq on August 12 that the Marlborough-based firm was not in compliance with its listing rules, due to its failure to raise its market value to the minimum $50 million mark.

The cancer diagnostic testing company uses applied genomics to develop patient-friendly screening technologies for use in the detection of cancer.

The hearing was requested by Exact in order to postpone Nasdaq’s pending delistment of the company stock on August 21.  The, hearing is scheduled for the exchange’s Listing Qualifications Panel and its decision will determine the company’s status.

In March, Exact retained an investment bank to seek a potential sale of the firm.

The company reported a sharp decline in revenue from its diagnostic test for colon cancer – PreGen-Plus – in 2007 due to an amended license agreement with Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings, of North Carolina, which markets the cancer test.

Exact reported a 2007 net loss of $11.96 million on revenue of $1.8 million, compared with a net loss $12.9 million on sales of $4.8 million in 2006. It has 22 employees.