NEW YORK — The Nasdaq this week suspended trading of OpGen shares after the company failed to provide an adequate plan to regain compliance with one of the stock exchange's listing requirements.
The troubled molecular diagnostics developer has fallen short on a number of the Nasdaq's requirements recently as it dealt with outstanding debt and the recent bankruptcies of its European subsidiaries Curetis and Ares Genetics.
After undertaking a 1-for-10 reverse stock split of its common shares earlier this year to regain compliance with the Nasdaq's $1 minimum bid price listing requirement, OpGen was then notified that it faced delisting from the stock exchange for failing to file a first quarter report with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. While OpGen submitted that report to the SEC earlier this week, it had also run afoul of the Nasdaq's minimum stockholders’ equity requirement.
OpGen said last week that it provided the Nasdaq with a plan to regain compliance with the shareholder equity requirement, which would have given it additional time to meet the criterion, but that this plan was rejected by the stock exchange's hearing board. As a result, the Nasdaq halted trading of OpGen stock as of Tuesday.
OpGen said last week that it intends to appeal the hearing board's ruling.
On Monday, shares of OpGen closed at $1.96.
OpGen also said last week that it struck a deal to sell up to $3 million in common stock to investment firm AEI Capital, a move it said could help it regain compliance with the Nasdaq's listing requirements and allow its shares to continue trading on the exchange.
Under the terms of that deal, OpGen would sell the shares at the price they closed at the day before any sale. Proceeds would be used for working capital, general corporate purposes, and to fund strategic acquisitions, OpGen said. The transactions were also expected to help OpGen increase its shareholders' equity so that it was back in compliance with the Nasdaq's requirement.
With the suspension of OpGen's stock on the Nasdaq, the status of the deal with AEI Capital is not clear. Company officials were not available for comment as of press time.