Acusphere Inc. (OTCBB: ACUS) announced today its plan to substantially
reduce costs while it continues its discussions with the U.S. Food &
Drug Administration (FDA) about the regulatory path forward for its lead
product candidate, Imagify™ (Perflubutane Polymer Microspheres) for
Injectable Suspension. These cost reductions include a reduction in
force, the termination of its lease in Watertown and the consolidation
of operations at its manufacturing facility in Tewksbury, as well as the
filing of a Form 15 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
(“SEC”) to suspend the company’s SEC reporting obligations. These cost
reductions are in addition to cost reductions previously announced in
February 2009, involving the renegotiation of certain intellectual
property agreements to push certain future payments into 2013.
After successfully completing a Pre-Approval Inspection (PAI) by FDA,
the Company announced today a planned reduction in force of 40 people,
or about two-thirds of its employees, over the next several weeks. The
reductions cut across all functional areas including manufacturing,
quality systems, drug development, regulatory, finance and
administration. These reductions are intended to extend the Company’s
cash position to accommodate continuing discussions with FDA.
The Company also announced today the signing of an agreement to
terminate the lease of its current Company headquarters in Watertown,
Massachusetts and relocate all Company personnel to its facility in
Tewksbury, Massachusetts. Under the agreement, the Company makes a
one-time payment of $800,000 and forfeits its security deposit of
$997,500. The Company will also make its final monthly payment of rent
for March 2009 and pays estimated operating expenses of approximately
$65,000 per month from April 2009 through July 1, 2009, unless the lease
is terminated earlier by the landlord.
The Company also announced today that it has voluntarily filed a Form 15
with the SEC to suspend the company's SEC reporting obligations. Upon
the filing of the Form 15, the Company's obligation to file periodic and
current reports with the SEC, including Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K, were
immediately suspended. Acusphere expects the registration of its common
stock will be terminated 90 days after the filing of the Form 15 with
the SEC. As a result of the Form 15 filing, the Company's securities
will not be eligible for trading on any national exchange and will no
longer be eligible for trading on the OTC Bulletin Board. Following the
Form 15 filing, the Company's securities may be eligible for quotation
on the Pink Sheets.
An independent committee of Acusphere's Board of Directors voted
unanimously to file the Form 15 after careful consideration of the
advantages and disadvantages of continued reporting to the SEC.
Suspending the Company's SEC reporting obligations will allow it to
avoid the substantial legal, accounting and other expenses associated
with reporting compliance and make those savings available for continued
operation of the business.
