On December 7, 2015, NASDAQ notified Aeterna Zentaris Inc. that the company regained compliance with Rule 5450(a)(1). This rule requires a minimum bid price of $1.00 for continued listing on the NASDAQ Capital Market. 

But, compliance with this rule has been an ongoing challenge for Aeterna Zentaris Inc. 

This late-stage drug development company, which specializes in oncology and endocrinology, originally received a letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of the NASDAQ Stock Market on January 21, 2010. This letter indicated that the minimum closing bid price of its common shares had fallen below $1.00 for 30 consecutive trading days. As a result, the company was not in compliance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5450(a)(1). The company was provided a grace period of 180 calendar days, or until July 20, 2010, to regain compliance with this requirement. 

On April 23, 2010, Aeterna Zentaris Inc. received another letter stating that the company’s stock was above the $1.00 minimum bid price for 10 consecutive trading days and that, as a result, the company regained compliance with Marketplace Rule 5450(a)(1) (the minimum bid price rule).

There were a few other incidences of noncompliance, such as May of 2012 (and the remedying of it in October of 2012).

On November 18, 2015, the company once again must address NASDAQ compliance. Aeterna Zentaris Inc. announced that the consolidation of its issued and outstanding common shares approved by shareholders at a special meeting held on November 16, 2015, occurred at the consolidation ratio of 100-to-1 and became legally effective on November 17, 2015. The consolidation, according to a press release, will reduce the number of outstanding common shares from approximately 656.0 million to approximately 6.6 million.

Today, Aeterna Zentaris Inc. once again announces that it has regained compliance with Rule 5450(a)(1). 

Commenting on the announcement, David A. Dodd, Chairman, President and CEO of the company, said: “We are pleased that we have been able to regain compliance with NASDAQ’s minimum bid price rule, because our NASDAQ listing is important in maintaining liquidity in the trading of our common shares.”

The company also disclosed that at its annual end-of-year meeting, its Board of Directors recently adopted the following objectives for the company in 2016:

• Zoptrex™: Completion of the pivotal ZoptEC Phase 3 Clinical Trial
• Macrilen™: Completion of the confirmatory Phase 3 Clinical Trial
• Commercial Operations: Addition of another product to commercial portfolio
• Financial Condition: Capital structuring and strengthening

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