It's shaping up to be a rough year for InVivo Therapeutics ($NVIV): Two weeks after the company watched its shares take a 40% plunge, its stock price tanked again thanks to an abrupt C-level resignation and a last-minute conference pullout.
CFO Sean Moran tendered his resignation on Monday, InVivo said in a regulatory filing, and the company has canceled its plans to present at this week's Rodman and Renshaw Healthcare Conference, news that sent its share price down another 34%, bottoming out at $1.32 on Thursday morning.
Moran's unexplained resignation follows last month's departure of long-time CEO Frank Reynolds and the bombshell that its much-hyped biopolymer scaffolding for spinal injuries has been delayed indefinitely.
In August, the FDA approved InVivo's plan for a first-in-human trial under the Humanitarian Device Exemption, but the conditions require it to enroll just one patient every three months, running each one by the agency. Thus, InVivo can't start until the first quarter of next year, and the total enrollment will take at least 21 months, putting commercialization far in the future.
InVivo's stock price has slipped more than 75% since July, when the company believed it was well on its way to taking a quick trip through the FDA process and capitalizing on a first-of-its-kind implant. Now, the company is searching for a CEO and CFO, with Vivus ($VVUS) board chairman Michael Astrue serving as interim chief.
- check out InVivo's SEC filing