Chembio gets Nasdaq delisting notice as shares sink below $1
Chembio, based in Hauppauge, said it had been informed by Nasdaq that its share price had fallen below Nasdaq's $1-per-share minimum for 30 consecutive days. Credit: Kendall Rodriguez
Chembio Diagnostics Inc., a Hauppauge maker of medical diagnostic tests, has received a notice that it is out of compliance with Nasdaq Stock Market listing requirements.
In a government filing, the company said it had been informed by Nasdaq that its share price had fallen below Nasdaq's $1-per-share minimum for 30 consecutive days.
Under Nasdaq rules, Chembio has 180 days — until Oct. 3 — to regain compliance, though an extension is possible.
In the Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it plans to "monitor" its stock price and will consider actions, including a reverse stock split, to regain compliance.
Shares of Chembio fell 1.1% to close Monday at 73 cents, a fraction of their 52-week high of $7.34.
Chembio president and chief executive Richard Eberly said in an email that the company was unable to comment beyond the SEC filing.
Two-hundred ninety-seven of the company's total 337 employees are in the United States, according to Chembio's report for the year ended Dec. 31.
The company has come under pressure as the SEC conducts an investigation of a May 2020 stock offering completed shortly before the Food and Drug Administration's June 2020 revocation of emergency-use authorization for a Chembio COVID-19 antibody test.
In its annual report, Chembio said it is "cooperating fully in the SEC’s investigation."
At the time authorization was revoked, an FDA spokesman said the agency had approved more than two dozen coronavirus antibody tests and Chembio's was the first to have its EUA revoked by the agency.
The agency said the test posed a risk to public health because of false results in some instances.
In its annual report issued in March, the company said it does not have an EUA from the FDA for any of its COVID-19 diagnostic test systems.
The suspension of sales of the antibody test disrupted the company’s multimillion-dollar expansion plan to convert its production lines from tests for HIV, syphilis, Ebola, Zika and other infectious diseases to those for the coronavirus.
Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.
Suozzi visits ICE 'hold rooms' ... U.S. cuts child vaccines ... Coram apartment fire ... Out East: Custer Institute and Observatory
Suozzi visits ICE 'hold rooms' ... U.S. cuts child vaccines ... Coram apartment fire ... Out East: Custer Institute and Observatory
