Heart repair medical device firm NMT Medical running out of cash

These are hard times at NMT Medical Inc. (Public, PINK:NMTI), where officials said the company doesn’t have enough money to pay for its annual earnings filing with the federal Securities & Exchange Commission.

Company officials said in Sept. 2010 that its existing cash resources were “not sufficient to fund our business plans, as currently constituted, beyond the fourth quarter of 2010.”

As a result of the shortfall, NMT will not be filing its annual report with the SEC because it can’t afford auditors. The company said it’s already streamlined operations and cut expenses and is exploring financing deals and other strategic options. Last month, NASDAQ de-listed the company from trading on the exchange.

The troubles for NMT began June 17, when it reported that its flagship StarFlex device failed to meet the primary endpoint of a clinical trial. The news sent NMTI’s stock price down 79 percent that day; shares were trading at about 17 cents today, a far cry from an all-time high of $24.56.

Trying to regroup, NMT said it would “tightly manage expenses, preserve cash, evaluate financing alternatives and adjust our operating plan accordingly,” as it waits for the final results of the Closure I trial to be completed in November, according to its second-quarter earnings release. In August, the company’s poor stock performance drew a first de-listing warning from the NASDAQ exchange. Later that month, former CEO Frank Martin and chairman James Mahoney stepped down, with COO Richard Davis taking the helm as chairman, president and CEO.