Two companies reported receiving deficiency letters from Nasdaq relative to not meeting minimum bid price requirements for Nasdaq listing.

Urologix (Minneapolis) received a deficiency letter on April 29 that the minimum bid price of the company's common stock was below $1 per share for 30 consecutive business days and that Urologix therefore was not in compliance with Marketplace Rule 4450(a)(5).

The company has 180 days, or until Oct. 27, to regain compliance. Compliance can be achieved during any compliance period by meeting the minimum bid price requirement for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days during the 180-day compliance period. This staff deficiency letter has no effect on the listing of the company common stock at this time.

Urologix makes minimally invasive products for the treatment of urological disorders.

PhotoMedex (Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania) said that it received notification that the company was not in compliance with the $1 minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on the Nasdaq Global Market under Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 4450(a)(5). The closing price of PhotoMedex stock has been below $1 since March 14.

The company's stock will continue to trade on the Global Market under the symbol PHMD.

The notification letter states that, pursuant to the Marketplace Rule, the company will have 180 calendar days, or until Oct. 22, to regain compliance with the minimum bid price rule.

PhotoMedex provides contract medical procedures to hospitals, surgi-centers and doctors' offices.


Positive results for surgical sponges

SurgiCount Medical (Los Angeles) reported a randomized controlled trial conducted by Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston) found that bar-coded, computer-assisted surgical sponge counting systems reduce the chance of counting errors during patient surgery by a factor of 3 to 1. The results of the study were published in the Annals of Surgery.

"Leaving surgical sponges inside patients happens more often than people think and far more often than it should," said Atul Gawande, MD, surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a co-author of the study. "Surgical teams have been seeking a solution to this problem for decades and this trial of a computer-assisted method of counting surgical sponges gives us reason to believe a viable, proven and cost-effective solution has at last been found."

SurgiCount's Safety-Sponge system consists of individually bar-coded surgical sponges and a portable scanner that enhances traditional hand sponge counts.

SurgiCount makes the SurgiCount Safety-Sponge system, a turnkey solution to retained surgical sponges. The system is comprised of surgical sponges and towels affixed with an inseparable 2-D data matrix bar code and a SurgiCounter scanner to record each sponge before and after an operation.


Osteotech receives deficiency letter

Osteotech (Eatontown, New Jersey) said that it received a Nasdaq staff deficiency letter on April 28 in response to its notification to Nasdaq that Robert Gunn, an independent director and a member of the board's audit and compensation committees, passed away unexpectedly on April 22.

As a result, Osteotech has only two independent directors serving on its audit committee and is not in compliance with the audit committee composition requirements for continued listing set forth in Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 4350(d)(2)(A). Pursuant to the Nasdaq letter, Osteotech has until Oct. 20 to regain compliance with the audit committee composition requirements or it will be subject to delisting from the Nasdaq stock market. Osteotech said it anticipates that it will be able to identify and appoint a suitable candidate prior to Oct. 20.

Osteotech makes regenerative medicine products.


FDA panel meeting set for June 12

The Anesthesiology and Respiratory Therapy Devices Panel of the FDA's Medical Devices Advisory Committee will hold a public advisory meeting on June 12 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Hilton Washington DC North/Gaithersburg.

The committee will discuss, make recommendations and vote on a pre-market approval application for the ProGEL Surgical Sealant sponsored by NeoMend (Irvine, California). The device is indicated to reinforce soft tissue where weakness exists as an adjunct to the standard procedure (sutures/staples) for closing intraoperative air leaks.

Persons interested in attending should contact Neel Patel of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, phone 240-276-3700, or FDA Advisory Committee Information Line, 1-800-741-8138 (301-443-0572 in the Washington area), code 3014512624.