MELBOURNE, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Prana Biotechnology Limited (ASX:PBT/NASDAQ:PRAN) has received notification from the Listing Qualifications Department of NASDAQ advising the Company that it is currently non-compliant with NASDAQ's requirement that listed securities maintain a minimum bid price of $US1.00 per share on NASDAQ as outlined in the NASDAQ Listing Rules.
The NASDAQ notification has no effect at this time on the listing of the Company's American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”) and the ADSs will continue to trade uninterrupted on NASDAQ under the symbol "PRAN". The Company’s ordinary shares which are traded on the Australian Securities Exchange (“ASX”) under the symbol “PBT” are in full compliance with ASX listing requirements and are completely independent of the NASDAQ listing. Prana’s management intends to actively monitor the bid price for its ADSs and will consider all available options to regain compliance with the NASDAQ minimum bid price requirement.
Prana has a compliance period of 180 calendar days (until May 2, 2016) to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement. If at any time during the 180 day compliance period, the closing bid price per ADS is at least $US1.00 for at least ten consecutive business days, NASDAQ will provide the Company a written confirmation of compliance and the matter will be closed.
In the event Prana does not regain compliance, the Company may be eligible for an additional 180 calendar days' extension to regain compliance. To qualify, the Company will be required to meet the continued listing requirement for market value of publicly held shares and all other initial listing standards for The NASDAQ Capital Market, with the exception of the bid price requirement, and will need to provide written notice of its intention to cure the deficiency during the second compliance period, by effecting a reverse stock split, if necessary. If the NASDAQ staff concludes that the Company will not be able to cure the deficiency or if the Company is otherwise not eligible, the Company's ADSs will be subject to delisting by NASDAQ.
About Prana Biotechnology Limited
Prana Biotechnology was established to commercialise research into Alzheimer's disease and other major age-related neurodegenerative disorders. The Company was incorporated in 1997 and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in March 2000 and listed on NASDAQ in September 2002. Researchers at prominent international institutions including The University of Melbourne, The Mental Health Research Institute (Melbourne) and Massachusetts General Hospital, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, contributed to the discovery of Prana’s technology.
For further information please visit the Company’s web site at www.pranabio.com
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Company has tried to identify such forward-looking statements by use of such words as "expects," "intends," "hopes," "anticipates," "believes," "could," "may," "evidences" and "estimates," and other similar expressions, but these words are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to any statements relating to the Company's drug development program, including, but not limited to the initiation, progress and outcomes of clinical trials of the Company's drug development program, including, but not limited to, PBT2, and any other statements that are not historical facts. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those risks and uncertainties relating to the difficulties or delays in financing, development, testing, regulatory approval, production and marketing of the Company’s drug components, including, but not limited to, PBT2, the ability of the Company to procure additional future sources of financing, unexpected adverse side effects or inadequate therapeutic efficacy of the Company's drug compounds, including, but not limited to, PBT2, that could slow or prevent products coming to market, the uncertainty of patent protection for the Company's intellectual property or trade secrets, including, but not limited to, the intellectual property relating to PBT2, and other risks detailed from time to time in the filings the Company makes with Securities and Exchange Commission including its annual reports on Form 20-F and its reports on Form 6-K. Such statements are based on management’s current expectations, but actual results may differ materially due to various factions including those risks and uncertainties mentioned or referred to in this press release. Accordingly, you should not rely on those forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual future results.
