NEW YORK – Liquid biopsy firm Biocept last week filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
The San Diego-based firm filed its bankruptcy petition on Friday, and in a document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, it said that it is filing its petition after considering strategic alternatives. Antonino Morales resigned as the company's president and CEO on Friday, while Marsha Chandler, Bruce Gerhardt, Quyen Dao-Haddock, Ivor Royston, and Linda Rubinstein resigned from Biocept's board of directors on the same day.
Under Chapter 7 bankruptcy, an individual or organization liquidates nonexempt assets to pay its creditors. Unlike Chapter 11 bankruptcy, there is no reorganization of the petitioner's finances.
In the beginning of this year, Biocept laid off 35 percent of its workforce as part of a broader restructuring plan. The company later priced a $5 million public offering, following a 1-for-30 reverse stock split and a disclosure that its stockholder equity had fallen below the minimum needed to remain listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market.
In August, Biocept reported that its second quarter revenues fell to $589,000 from $5.8 million a year ago on lower COVID-19 testing volume, while its net loss narrowed to $3.6 million, or $3.50 per share, from $10 million, or $17.82 per share, a year ago. Commercial accessions delivered in Q2 2023 dropped to 322 from 77,779 a year ago.
The firm was founded in 1997 and offered tests using cerebrospinal fluid to molecularly characterize tumor cells and assess protein expression changes, according to its website. Last month, it signed a deal with Plus Therapeutics for the use of CNSide, expanding an agreement inked a year ago for use of the tests in a clinical trial of Plus' targeted radiotherapeutic to treat patients with carcinomas and/or melanomas with suspected leptomeningeal metastases.