Biopure Corp. has enough cash on hand to fund operations only until the end of July and is actively seeking acquirers to stave off bankruptcy, according to a filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.
“The Company expects current assets and product sales to be sufficient to fund operations through July 31, 2009 under the current operating plan,” according to the filing. “The current operating plan anticipates a possible sale of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets by that date. The Company would require significant additional funding to remain a going concern and to fund operations until such time, if ever, as it might become profitable. … Without sufficient capital to fund its operations the Company will be unable to continue as a going concern.”
The Cambridge-based blood substitute maker said it’s been looking for enough funding to stay afloat since last year but, aside from raising $2.3 million from investors through a stock sale in June 2008, hasn’t had any luck.
Biopure posted second-quarter sales of $347,000 for the three months ended April 30, down 61.5 percent compared with $902,000 during the same period last year. That’s due to the company having shuttered operations starting last year as it searched out funding.
Net losses narrowed to $4.2 million during the quarter, from $10.7 million during the second quarter of 2008, as Biopure laid off workers, shut down production and sold off assets and real estate in Pennsylvania, according to the SEC filing. All told since its 1984 inception the company has accumulated deficits of $586 million, never managing to post a profit.
And if not for the global financial crisis, it’s likely that the NASDAQ stock exchange would have delisted the company, as it’s failed to meet its minimum share price requirements since December 2007.
Biopure’s run has been rocky, between the Food & Drug Administration balking at authorizing tests of its flagship blood substitute product, Hemopure, and some shady dealings by former executives.