The product developers Titan Medical (CVE:TMD) hired to help create its Sport robot-assisted surgery platform have suspended development until the company can cover its bills, and $16 million in financing from a Chinese private equity firm might not happen after all, Titan said yesterday.
The Toronto-based company said its product developers “have decided to temporarily suspend development work of the Sport surgical system until such time that the company has sufficient financing to cover current and future work orders projected over a 6-month period.”
“As well, the previously announced $16.0 million equity investment from Shanghai JuGu Equity Investment Fund Co. Ltd. that was expected to close on June 30, 2016, and was subsequently extended to August 15, 2016, has not closed as of the date hereof,” Titan said, noting that there’s no assurance that the financing will close on its previous terms “if at all.”
“The company’s board of directors is exploring strategies to raise financing necessary to allow the company to resume its development of the Sport surgical system,” Titan said, noting that the suspended development program might mean a delay in filing for 510(k) clearance from the FDA.
“Our immediate focus is securing the financing to resume the development of the Sport surgical system so we can capitalize on what we see as an enormous marketplace opportunity,” CEO John Hargrove said in prepared remarks. “I, along with the board of directors, am aggressively exploring financing strategies to minimize the disruption and continue the progress we achieved over the past few months.”
The pre-revenue-stage company also reported its 2nd-quarter results, paring its losses by -3.8% compared with Q2 2015, to -$7.9 million, or -5¢ per share.
TMD shares, which closed down -2.4% at 64.6¢ (C83¢) apiece yesterday, plunged another -33.7% to 42.7¢ (C55¢) today in early trading.
(C$1 = $0.777391)
