Seattle-based biotech company Kineta Inc. (Nasdaq: KA) has regained compliance with Nasdaq listing rules.
The company had received notice on June 27 that it hadn't maintained a market value of listed securities of at least $35 million for 30 consecutive business days, putting Kineta out of compliance with the exchange's listing rules.
On Tuesday, however, the Nasdaq informed the company it had regained compliance and the matter was closed.
When Kineta first received notice of its potential delisting, the company had 180 calendar days to regain compliance. Kineta could have regained compliance by having a market value of at least $35 million for at least 10 consecutive business days. Instead, the company regained compliance through an alternative standard allowed by the Nasdaq listing rules: having stockholders' equity of at least $2.5 million.
Kineta was founded in 2008 and is focused on immunotherapies in cancer treatment. Its lead drug is aimed at helping cancer patients mount a more effective immune response, and the drug is currently in the first phase of clinical trials. Kineta plans to release safety data from the trials in the third quarter and efficacy data in the fourth quarter.
Kineta also has a pre-clinical drug aimed at exhausted T cells. It hopes to start Phase 1 clinical trials for that drug in the second half of next year.
Kineta has been a public company since December when it completed a reverse merger with Boston-based Yumanity Therapeutics. The company first announced plans for the deal in June 2022 but had expressed interest in going public as early as 2019.
In April, Kineta raised about $6 million through a registered direct offering, a process in which a company engages a firm to sell a certain number of shares on a best-effort basis. Registered direct offerings usually target institutional investors, but retail investors can also participate. Kineta said at the time the raise would help with working capital.
