October 6, 2005 Calypte CEO and CFO quit Richard George, chief executive officer of troubled company Calypte Biomedical Corp., has quit. Chairman Roger Gale will be interim CEO.
The company, which makes HIV tests, also said Richard Brounstein, its chief financial officer, stepped down from that post, though he is still a vice president in the company. Brounstein was replaced by Theodore Gwin, who has been Calypte's controller since April.
Richard Van Maanen also quit as Calypte's vice president of operations and international business development.
Calytpe recently moved from Pleasanton to Lake Oswego, Ore., near Portland, in an attempt to save money.
Calypte has been scrambling to sign deals and earn some revenue before it burns up all its money. Though the company has signed some deals to sell its tests in Africa and recently reported positive results from clinical trials in China, it has continued to lose money. In the most recent quarter reported, which ended June 30, Calypte lost $1.72 million on sales of $794,000, compared with a loss of $3.24 million on sales of $910,000 in the same quarter a year ago.
In September, the Food and Drug Administration said Calypte could start making urine-based HIV tests at a factory in Maryland.
In June, the American Stock Exchange warned Calypte that it might be delisted for having less than $2 million in shareholders' equity. But Calypte appealed and was given an 18-month extension.
In April, Calypte (AMEX:HIV) said it would cut two-thirds of its work force to halve its " burn rate" of $1 million a month. In a June 27 financial filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it had just $275,000 in cash and equivalents on March 31, compared with $1.1 million in cash and equivalents on Dec. 31, 2004. But by June 30, 2005, the company said it had $2.1 million in cash and equivalents.
One of Calypte's largest investors is Marr Technologies BV. Marr is owned by Marr Group Holdings Ltd., a company with investments primarily in the Commonwealth of Independent States, or CIS, a federation made up of 12 out of 15 former Soviet republics.
Marr Group Holdings Ltd. is controlled by Marat R. Safin. |