Biopure gets Nasdaq extension

Biopure Corp., a Cambridge biotechnology company, said today that it has received an extension to comply with Nasdaq Stock Market listing requirements.

Biopure said it has been notified by Nasdaq that Biopure has until March 16 to regain compliance with a marketplace rule requiring a minimum bid price of $1 for continued listing.

"The deadline would have been December 8, 2008, but Nasdaq suspended enforcement of the minimum bid price requirement because of turmoil in the marketplace, thereby extending the company's time in which to gain compliance," said Biopure, which added that it currently meets all other required inclusion criteria for the Nasdaq Capital Market.

Biopure's most recent closing price was 25 cents a share.

In June, Biopure laid off 50 employees, or about 60 percent of its staff, to slash expenses, according to a brief in the Globe Business section. That brief noted that the company has two products, one for animals, the other for humans, both made from cattle blood and refined to replenish oxygen-starved tissue. Biopure has US and European approval to market the veterinary product to treat anemia in dogs, but has struggled to get US approval for the human product.

Biopure said it is also working with the US Food and Drug Administration on a protocol for acute myelogenous leukemia.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)