Pharmacopeia, Inc. (NDAQ: PCOP) shares continued their decline today after the company received a delisting notice from the Nasdaq Stock Market. The company actually received the notice on September 30th indicating that it was not in compliance with the continued listing requirements because the market value of its listed securities was below $50 million for 10 consecutive trading days. This could spell bad news for shareholders as liquidity is greatly reduced upon delisting.

The company is currently involved in a deal to be acquired by Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NDAQ: LGND) in a deal valued up to $70 million. The deal is based off of the price of Ligand shares, which have fallen sharply in recent days. The transaction is structured as a stock-for-stock exchange with an added kicker. Ligand willissue about 17.5 million shares, or 0.58 shares for each outstanding Pharmacopeia share. This will give Ligand 84% of the combined company.

Pharmacopeia is a clinical development stage biopharamceutical company dedicated to discovering and developing small molecule therapeutics to address medical needs. It has a portfolio of clinical and preclinical candidates under development internally or by partners, including eight clinical compounds in Phase II or Phase I development addressing multiple indications, including hypertension, diabetic nephropathy, muscle wasting, inflammation and respiratory disease.