Nasdaq's management wrote last week to Israeli company XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. (Nasdaq:XTLB); TASE:XTL) asking if the company constituted a "publicly traded shell". This can be learned from XTL's report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where there are fears concerning the continued activity of the company, which is also traded on the TASE.
Nasdaq demands that XTL details its plans by the end of the month in order to consider its continued registration for trading. On the 6-K form (required by foreign companies traded on the exchange) which XTL submitted, it points out that it plans continuing to operate after that date. The company has been asked to detail its activities and situation.
At the start of this month XTL announced that it was firing almost all its staff (nine employees, representing 75% of the work force), leaving the company with just three employees. These employees will reportedly be responsible for preparing the liquidation and sale of the company's assets, or merging other activities into the company - similar to a stock market shell.
These developments follow the failure of XTL's Bicifadine Phase IIb clinical trial.
XTL's share is traded on Nasdaq at $0.07, with a market cap of $216,380 after losing 97.4% of its value since the start of the year.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 23, 2008
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