Titan Medical again extends negotiations with Chinese distributor

Titan Medical (TSX:TMD) said this week that it’s again extending negotiations with a Chinese private equity shop, after a prior, 3-month add-on expired August 19.

The Toronto-based robot-assisted surgery company is in talks with Longtai Medical over the exclusive rights to its Sport platform.

In May, Titan inked a 3-month extension on negotiations with distributor Longtai Medical for the exclusive rights to its Sport surgical robot in the Asia-Pacific region. Longtai put more than $24 million on the table for Titan last November, including an initial $4 million private placement and the right to negotiate for the rights to Sport in the Asia-Pacific region (Longtai also put down a $2 million deposit on the distribution deal that’s slated to be repaid if it’s not consummated).

“The parties have agreed to modify their previous 3-month extension to monthly progress reviews,” Titan said in an August 24 press release.

Last week Titan revealed that the product developers it hired to help create the Sport system had suspended development until the company can cover its bills.

The product developers “have decided to temporarily suspend development work of the Sport surgical system until such time that the company has sufficient financing to cover current and future work orders projected over a 6-month period,” Titan said.

“As well, the previously announced $16.0 million equity investment from Shanghai JuGu Equity Investment Fund Co. Ltd. that was expected to close on June 30, 2016, and was subsequently extended to August 15, 2016, has not closed as of the date hereof,” Titan said, noting that there’s no assurance that the financing will close on its previous terms  “if at all.”

“The company’s board of directors is exploring strategies to raise financing necessary to allow the company to resume its development of the Sport surgical system,” Titan said, noting that the suspended development program might mean a delay in filing for 510(k) clearance from the FDA.

“Our immediate focus is securing the financing to resume the development of the Sport surgical system so we can capitalize on what we see as an enormous marketplace opportunity,” CEO John Hargrove said at the time. “I, along with the board of directors, am aggressively exploring financing strategies to minimize the disruption and continue the progress we achieved over the past few months.”

The pre-revenue-stage company also reported its 2nd-quarter results, paring its losses by -3.8% compared with Q2 2015, to -$7.9 million, or -5¢ per share.

Since the August 15 announcement that the Sport program is on hold, TMD shares are off -16.9%, closing at 69¢ apiece yesterday.

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