NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Rosetta Genomics said today that it intends to sell its PersonalizeDx business as part of an ongoing effort to focus on its microRNA-based thyroid nodule classification assay, RosettaGx Reveal.
Earlier this month, Rosetta disclosed that it was realigning its corporate strategy around the US commercialization of Reveal. As a result, it was considering strategic alternatives for PersonalizeDx — which sells fluorescence in situ hybridization-based cancer tests and operates a CLIA lab — just two years after its acquisition.
"Since announcing our strategic focus on RosettaGX Reveal … we have received inquiries from multiple parties expressing interest in acquiring our PersonalizeDx business," Rosetta President and CEO Kenneth Berlin said in a statement. "The potential sale of our PersonalizeDx business would have the benefit of bringing in non-dilutive cash, as well as reducing our cash burn rate by approximately 20 percent."
Berlin added that while PersonalizeDx complements Rosetta's core miRNA diagnostics portfolio, "we also believe that concentrating our investments in the expansion of our commercial, promotional, and reimbursement efforts for Reveal to accelerate this differentiated product's growth will provide a better return on investment over the next several years, as well as provide a more rapid path to profitability."
Rosetta did not provide any specific details about its efforts to sell PersonalizeDx.
The company also said that it has dropped plans to sell class A and class B units of shares and warrants. "The current market conditions for selling equity are not favorable to microcap companies, and we believe the terms proposed to us by potential investors are not in the best interest of our shareholders," Berlin noted.
Rosetta also said that it is looking at various sources of non-dilutive funding including the monetization of its intellectual property.
During early morning trading on the Nasdaq, shares of Rosetta were down 3 percent at $1.54.