Bioheart Inc. made headlines as the only biotech firm to raise money through an initial public offering on the U.S. markets last year - though it raised only $5.8 million through the sale of 1.1 million shares at $5.25 each. But the Sunrise, Fla.-based firm now has received written notification from Nasdaq that its listing was discontinued as of Feb. 27.

The move followed Nasdaq's determination that the company failed to comply with certain listing requirements, including the market value of its common stock and either minimum stockholders' equity or net income from continuing operations of $500,000 in the most recently completed fiscal year or two of its last three most recently completed fiscal years.

Bioheart CEO Howard Leonhardt said in a press release that it is unfortunate that the company's stock price "has been so adversely affected by the general decline in the securities market that it could not maintain a Nasdaq listing." Bioheart, which develops devices and biologics for cardiovascular diseases, said it is in the process of engaging a market maker for its common stock and is applying for listing on the Over the Counter Bulletin Board.

Meanwhile, the firm continues to develop its lead product candidate, MyoCell, a muscle-derived stem cell therapy designed to populate regions of scar tissue within a patient's heart with new living cells to improve cardiac function in people who suffer chronic heart failure. (See BioWorld Today, Feb. 21, 2008.)

Bioheart's shares, which were listed Friday on the Pink Sheets (BHRT), gained 16 cents, or 19 percent, to close at $1.01.