Sarasota biotech company regains NYSE compliance

A Sarasota biotech company has regained compliance with the New York Stock Exchange’s American listing standards. Oragenics Inc. (NYSE American: OGEN) is now positioned to focus exclusively on advancing its lead clinical program, according to an Oct. 21 statement.

The clinical-stage biotech company, which is working on an intranasal treatment for concussion and mild traumatic brain injury, was alerted in April 2024 that it fell out of compliance with NYSE standards when its stockholders did not have at least $6 million equity, a requirement since the company had reported losses in its five most recent fiscal years. It had to submit a plan and come into compliance by Oct. 18, 2025, or face delisting.

Oragenics was notified Oct. 20 that it regained compliance with the $6 million stockholder equity requirement, according to the statement, which notes the below-compliance indicator will be removed from the OGEN listing.

"Regaining compliance represents more than a regulatory milestone — it reflects our commitment to transparency, financial discipline and restoring investor confidence," Oragenics CEO Janet Huffman says in a statement. "We acknowledged the equity deficiency directly, took decisive action to address it and emerged with a strengthened balance sheet that supports our clinical objectives."

The restoration of NYSE compliance comes after the July 2 closing of a $16.5 million public offering of Series H convertible preferred stock, according to the statement. In addition to restoring stockholder equity to compliant levels, officials say the capital infusion provided a “runway” to advance Oragenics’ lead candidate for concussion and mild traumatic brain injury. The treatment is currently progressing through Phase IIa clinical trails in Australia with the potential for Phase IIb trials in the U.S.

"We've cleaned house financially and operationally," Huffman says in a statement. "Our team is fully aligned on one objective: delivering clinical data that validates [the treatment’s] potential to transform care for patients suffering from traumatic brain injuries. That's where our energy and capital are now directed."