Medicenna Therapeutics is letting its Nasdaq listing lapse after determining the effort to stay on the New York stock exchange was not worth it. The company is also executing a management shakeup as it retreats to Canada.
The Toronto- and Houston-based biotech first received a Nasdaq warning a year ago that the company’s share price had fallen below the minimum requirement of $1—an increasingly common occurrence in the sector. After receiving two 180-day extensions, Medicenna has now declined to appeal the delisting decision and decided to allow the shares to be delisted. The shares will cease trading on Nasdaq as of Nov. 2, according to a Friday press release.
Medicenna will continue to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker MDNA and Canada will now become the engineered cytokine biotech’s focus.
“To better position Medicenna for the benefit of all our shareholders, we undertook a thorough and thoughtful review of our cost structure, including costs associated with being a Nasdaq-listed company,” said Medicenna CEO Fahar Merchant, Ph.D. “Our board of directors concluded that within the context of the current biotech markets, the company and its stockholders do not benefit from a Nasdaq listing considering the associated significant costs and resources required.”
The TSX listing is still in good standing and the company has no debt, with sufficient cash to fund operations beyond key value inflection points, Merchant added. The biotech is working on a phase 2 trial of the immunotherapy MDNA11. Data are expected to be presented at a conference next month for that and other Medicenna programs.
The company also plans to reduce its presence in the U.S., including cutting down its management team and instead seeking executives who can support the transition to the TSX. Chief Financial Officer Jeff Caravella and Chief Business Officer Brent Meadows have departed the company as of Oct. 26. Medicenna will now seek a CFO who is familiar with the TSX.
“The board’s decision was based on several factors, including the continuing volatility of the financial markets in the life science sector and, accordingly, in the company’s current share price and market value, and an analysis of the benefits of continued listing on Nasdaq weighed against the regulatory burdens and costs associated with maintaining such listing,” Medicenna said in a Friday press release.
Since the shares are still trading on the TSX, Medicenna believes the costs and administrative burden of maintaining a Nasdaq listing “are not justified at this time.” Once the shares are delisted, the company will seek to have its common shares traded on the OTC Markets as soon as possible.