(By Balaseshan) Oculus Innovative Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: OCLS) said it has initiated the process to create a wholly owned subsidiary that will hold the commercial healthcare company's anti-infective drug assets.
The company recently announced, that based upon market research, there appeared to be a significant opportunity for a new drug utilizing the Microcyn Technology for surgical suite use.
The company's new surgical formulation has been finalized and the company is now preparing the clinical strategy in preparation for discussions with the FDA.
Oculus management believes that the creation of this subsidiary will provide focused resources for the drug development platform as well as financing opportunities specific to the subsidiary, or future spinoff.
The objective is to generate funding for the company's FDA clinical trials without issuing additional shares of the parent company.
"The creation of a subsidiary allows us to better leverage our drug opportunities, including Oculus' surgical anti-infective program. We plan on exploring all strategic alternatives to unlock the value of these assets, which we believe will lead to new drug applications for Microcyn Technology within the surgical suite," said Hoji Alimi, founder and CEO of Oculus.
The company said the new subsidiary could allow its existing shareholders to gain equity in both entities, and moving forward should attract both biotech investors focused on its drug programs as well as fundamental investors whose priority is the sales growth and profitability of its medical device products.
OCLS is trading up 1.43% at $0.710 on Monday. The stock has been trading between $0.60 and $1.65 for the past 52 weeks.