CytRx Calls for Removal of Stock from Berlin-Bremen Exchange
CytRx said this week that it has sent a formal demand letter to the Berlin-Bremen Stock Exchange requesting that the exchange delist the company’s common stock. According to CytRx, its stock was put on the exchange without its permission.
“Although CytRx is not aware of any direct evidence of impropriety resulting from the fact that its shares are listed on the Berlin exchange, the negative public perception of these listings is detrimental to the interests of our current stockholders,” CytRx president and CEO Steven Kriegsman said in a statement. “When we learned that our common stock had been listed on the Berlin-Bremen Exchange without the company’s approval or consent, we requested that the exchange immediately delist our stock.
“We are requesting delisting so that the negative perception of this listing does not have the potential to impact adversely our ambitious plans for the future of the company,” Kriegsman added in the statement. “We want our stock price to reflect the value of our business and the important scientific advances we are making, and not the perception of speculators.”
Invitrogen Affirms $200 Million Stock Buyback Program
Invitrogen said this week that it still may repurchase up to $200 million of its common stock, pursuant to an existing authorization by the company’s board to buy back as much as $300 million by July 2005.
Invitrogen said that it has already purchased $100 million in 2002 under the plan.
“We believe that the current price of our stock fails to adequately reflect the tremendous strength and value of our business,” Invitrogen chairman and CEO Greg Lucier said in a statement. “Nothing has changed regarding our most recent guidance for the year or for the future.”
AVI Inks Antisense Research Deal with US Army Medical Research Institute
AVI BioPharma said this week that it has signed a five-year cooperative research and development agreement with the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases under which the company’s antisense compounds will be tested against several viruses, bacteria and toxins that may be used as bioterror agents.
CombiMatrix Signs Microarray Synthesizer Development Deal with Furuno
CombiMatrix said this week that it has entered into a multi-year strategic alliance with Furuno Electric to design, engineer, and build CombiMatrix’s Bench-Top DNA Microarray Synthesizer for its CustomArray microarrays.
Under the deal, Hyogo, Japan-based Furuno will pay CombiMatrix an initial fee of $1 million, as well as development and milestones payments. CombiMatrix and Furuno will co-develop a commercial Bench-Top Synthesizer instrument that will synthesize DNA microarrays.