Wednesday, September 17, 2008

NitroMed’s low stock price prompts Nasdaq warning

By Mass High Tech Staff

Struggling biotech company NitroMed Inc. says that it received a letter from The Nasdaq Stock Market stating that it was out of compliance with listing rules because its stock had been trading for under $1 for the last 30 consecutive business days. Nasdaq has given Lexington-based NitroMed 180 calendar days, or until March 16, 2009, to regain compliance with the minimum bid price rule.

To regain that compliance, the stock of NitroMed (Nasdaq: NTMD) needs to close at $1 per share or more for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days by the March 16 deadline. If it doesn’t meet that goal, Nasdaq will warn NitroMed that its stock will be delisted from The Nasdaq Global Market on which it currently trades.

After slashing its staff from about 90 to 20 and suspending marketing efforts for its heart failure pill designed specifically for black patients, called BiDil, in January, NitroMed managed to report its first-ever profitable quarter for the second quarter of 2008. The company made a profit of $1 million, compared with loss of $8.2 million for the same quarter in 2007.

The company did note in its Q2 filing, however, that it could swing back to unprofitability because of the effect of no longer marketing BiDil, its primary drug. NitroMed officials said in the filing that it had enough funds to operate for another 12 months and was looking at “strategic alternatives.”

For 2007, NitroMed reported a net loss of $31.5 million on revenue of $16 million.