Embattled melanoma detection systems maker Mela Sciences (NSDQ:MELA) has another 180 days to get its stock price up before its share are pulled off of the Nasdaq exchange, the company announced.
Nasdaq rules require that listed stock maintain at least $1 per share on a consistent basis. MELA shares have closed below $1 since July and the company was originally warned of potential de-listing in August.
Under Nasdaq rules the company was given a 180-day grace period to pull its shares above water for 10 consecutive days, but failed to do so. Nasdaq granted Mela another grace period and the company now has until August 18 to regain compliance.
MELA shares have managed to scrape their way back from a 52-week low of 52¢ apiece, opening at 72¢ yesterday. Shares are up 12% since the start of the year.
The medical device maker has been looking to reinvent itself around a new strategy to get its optical diagnostics into clinics, using the proceeds from a new financing round to fund the "re-launch" of its flagship MelaFind device. Mela Sciences, whose main product is the mobile MelaFind optical diagnostic system for identifying and diagnosing potential melanoma, has been in a transitional phase since the resignation in June 2013 of long-time CEO Joseph Gulfo, followed by the August termination of 25% of the company’s staff.