Ventracor’s heart gives out

Ventracor is the first small cap biotech to fall victim to the venture capital drought, placing itself into voluntary administration today after failing to secure money to keep it a going concern.

Ventracor has been on the critical list for some time, with a product safety recall issued in February, just after calling a halt to trading. It voluntarily suspended from quotation on February 10.

Despite actual revenue from sales and achieving a key milestone in completing patient recruitment for its bridge-to-transplant clinical trial in the US, the company said in a statement today it was unable to raise enough capital or find a buyer. It said it preferred that an administrator be appointed now before the company became insolvent.

The writing was on the wall for the company for some time, with major staff turnover issues affecting confidence in the last two years. The company still hopes that its VentrAssist left ventricular assist device will be successfully commercialised at some stage.