CytRx Delays Nasdaq Delisting, Changes Subsidiary Name
CytRx said this week that it has postponed the delisting of its stock from the Nasdaq Small Cap Market, stemming from the company’s failure to file its 10-K annual report for 2003, by requesting a hearing with the Nasdaq Qualifications Panel.
That hearing is set for May 13, said CytRx.
The company previously said it received a letter from the Nasdaq on April 19 warning of the possibility of delisting. Pending that hearing, CytRx’s stock will continue to trade under the symbol “CYTRE.”
The company has blamed the annual report filing delay on difficulties it has had with independent auditors. CytRx is continuing to work with BDO Seidman “to complete the audit of its 2003 financial statements and to file its Form 10-K as expeditiously as possible,” according to a statement issued by the company.
BDO Seidman was signed on as the company’s auditors after PricewaterhouseCoopers was dismissed earlier in the month. PricewaterhouseCoopers replaced Ernst & Young, which CytRx had used as an independent auditor but dismissed on January 20 (see RNAi News, 4/23/2004).
CytRx also said this week that it has changed the name of its subsidiary Araios to CytRx Laboratories.
The change, said CytRx, was made in order to “reflect [Araios’] broadened mission of developing RNAi therapeutics, in addition to small molecule drugs, in the areas of obesity and diabetes.”
CytRx officials did not return a request for comment from RNAi News.
NAS Schedules RNAi Conference
The National Academy of Sciences has scheduled for May 17 -18 an RNAi conference entitled “The Biology of RNAi.” The event is slated to take place in Washington DC.
Details about the conference, as well as information on attending, can be found at http://www4.nationalacademies.org/nas/nashome.nsf/2bcd43d2a04ce99085256b87005a8c7b/653013a63fe1949385256e120079edb5?OpenDocument.
ExpressOn, Genome Explorations Form Gene Knockdown Alliance
ExpressOn BioSystems and Genome Explorations said this week that they have formed a strategic alliance to offer North American and Eruopean researchers design services for antisense, ribozyme, and RNAi experiments.
RNAi News’ sister publication BioArray News features an in-depth article about this partnership (see BioArray News, 4/28/2004).
CSIRO Licenses RNAi Technology to Bayer CropScience
Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) announced this week that it has agreed to license its DNA-delivered RNAi gene-silencing technology to Bayer CropScience.
CSIRO said that Bayer will develop and market crop plant varieties incorporating the technology, which can be used to introduce disease resistance, enhance nutritional qualities, and control flowering.