A.C.T. Holdings (Worcester, Massachusetts) reported that it has changed its name to Advanced Cell Technology, and the company’s trading symbol has been changed from ACTH to ACTC. The changes became effective on June 23.

“Our company has undergone significant changes in the past year and this name change represents those developments,” said CEO William Caldwell. “Now a publicly traded company, we have expanded our scientific and research teams to include some of the world’s leading scientists in the field of stem cell research and development, . . . further developed our intellectual property portfolio which now represents one of the strongest in the field, and continued to focus on developing and commercializing human stem cell technology in the emerging field of regenerative medicine.”

Hemosol regains compliance with Nasdaq

Hemosol (Toronto) said it has been notified by Nasdaq that the company has regained compliance with Nasdaq National Market’s minimum bid price requirement by achieving a closing bid price of at least $1 per share for the 10 consecutive trading days ended on June 23.

“We are pleased that the recent approval we obtained from our shareholders to consolidate our shares has enabled us to maintain our Nasdaq listing,” said Lee Hartwell, president and CEO.

On June 17, the company received a letter from Nasdaq stating that the company’s common shares would be delisted from Nasdaq because it was not in compliance with the Nasdaq National Market’s minimum bid price requirement set forth in Marketplace Rule 4450(a)(5).

Hemosol is focused on the development and manufacturing of biologics, particularly blood-related proteins. It has a broad range of novel therapeutic products in development, including oxygen therapeutics and protein-based therapeutics to treat certain infectious diseases, cancers and anemia.

Bio-Nano Sensium, Nanotech in beta test

Bio-Nano Sensium Technologies (Abingdon, UK), a subsidiary of Advance Nanotech (New York), reported a limited beta test program of its wireless biosensor system. Beta-stage versions of Bio-Nano Sensium (BNS) system will be available to potential partners and customers for evaluation. Wireless biosensors are increasingly seen as a desirable treatment for a range of chronic conditions including diabetes, cardiac conditions and asthma, the company said.

The BNS system is based on what the company said is a “low-cost, disposable integrated sensor interface chip” – the Sensium – that, due to its ultra low power and small battery size, can be implanted in or worn on the body with complete freedom of movement unlike existing bulky monitoring solutions.

The Sensium is compatible with a wide range of sensors and can be configured to detect vital signs such as ECG, blood oxygen and glucose, body temperature, and even motion and mobility. The BNS system is designed to enhance the way doctors and patients monitor a host of chronic illnesses, increasing the effectiveness of available treatments and improving the quality of life for patients, the company said.

Invacare lowers earning guidance

Invacare (Elyria, Ohio) said that it has lowered earnings per share guidance for the second quarter of 2005 and the full year. Anticipated second-quarter earnings performance is below Invacare’s expectations largely due to lower-than-anticipated revenues across all geographies and higher freight costs, particularly in North America, the company said.

Prior guidance anticipated that revenue growth excluding foreign currency and acquisitions would continue to improve from the 3% reported in the first quarter. With continuing pressures from Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement and the generally slow growth across geographies outside the U.S., particularly in the German market due to reimbursement challenges for the Invacare wheelchair product lines, the company said it “has not seen the further improvement in sales that was anticipated.” The revenue shortfall negatively impacted previous guidance by about 10 cents a share. Freight costs also negatively impacted prior guidance by roughly 6 cents a share largely due to fuel surcharges driven by the high price of oil.

In light of these pressures, Invacare is lowering guidance for earnings per share for the second quarter from the previous range of 53 cents to 58 cents to a new range of 38 cents to 41 cents.

Pediatric Prosthetics retains counsel, CPA

Pediatric Prosthetics (Houston) reported retaining Robert Axlerod, who it said is “a nationally respected securities counsel,” and the CPA firm of Malone and Bailey to finalize the company’s financial reports and regulatory filings so as to become fully reporting with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

The process of making application to move to the Nasdaq Over-The-Counter Electronic Bulletin Board is expected to start in about one month. Kenneth Bean, vice president operations, said, “Recent events leading to accelerating our business model demand that we also accelerate our date to be fully reporting. Both our securities attorney and our CPA firm feel quite confident of completing the work by the first of August, and we look forward to our audited financial debut.”