Windtree Therapeutics’ high-profile plan to raise up to $200 million for a BNB (BNB) treasury has run headlong into a market reality check: the Nasdaq is kicking it off the exchange.
The Warrington, Pennsylvania-based biotech disclosed in a Tuesday filing that the Nasdaq Capital Market will suspend trading in its shares effective Aug. 21 after the company failed to meet the $1 minimum bid price required under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2).
Windtree expects to transition to over-the-counter trading under its existing symbol “WINT,” though it cannot guarantee that the plan will go through, it said in a filing.
The delisting undercuts Windtree’s July announcement that it would become the first Nasdaq-listed company to build a BNB treasury.
At the time, the company unveiled a $60 million securities purchase agreement with blockchain infrastructure investor Build and Build Corp., with the potential to scale the program to $200 million. Shares surged more than 20% in pre-market trading after the news last month, but the company could not maintain the important $1 mark to maintain its listing.
Windtree’s stock slumped through most of late July and August, trading at 48 cents before the delisting announcement.
The move was positioned as an echo of Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR), which has turned its balance sheet into a bitcoin proxy. But unlike Strategy, which remains a Nasdaq bellwether, Windtree will now be relegated to OTC markets, limiting its visibility and institutional reach.
Shares dropped nearly 80% after the company disclosed the delisting order, and closed at 11 cents.
Read more: Biotech Company Windtree to Raise Up to $200M for BNB Treasury