Cell Therapeutics trading halted by two exchanges

Trading in Cell Therapeutics shares was halted on both the Nasdaq and the Borsa Italiana in Milan on Tuesday, according to notices posted by both stock exchanges on their Web sites.

The Milan exchange said it initiated an "indefinite" trading halt, but gave no explanation. A note on the Nasdaq site says only that "trading is halted in conjunction with another exchange or market for regulatory reasons."

The cash-strapped Seattle biotech company said Wednesday afternoon that the Italian exchange "suddenly suspended trading" of its shares, although the company believes it is in compliance with all reporting and filing requirements in Italy.

"The company has responded to numerous requests by both the Borsa Italiana and CONSOB (the Italian securities regulatory authority) to provide additional clarifications about its business operations and financial condition, and the company has met with CONSOB on several occasions, most recently on February 6th, to answer such questions," Cell Therapeutics said in a statement.

"The company is diligently working with the Borsa Italiana, CONSOB and the NASDAQ Stock Market to have one or both markets resume trading in the Company's common stock," the statement said.

Last week Cell Therapeutics said in a U.S. regulatory filing that CONSOB had requested "financial information for the month of Dec. 31, 2008, and other information" that is not filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In an English translation of its response, Cell Therapeutics said that "the company estimates that its current cash will be sufficient through February 2009."

The company's stock is traded in Italy because it has a large number of stockholders there following its 2003 acquisition of Novuspharma, a Milan-based biotech company.

Before the trading halt, Cell Therapeutics shares last traded at 8 cents, with a 52-week range of $16.70 to 5 cents.

The 16-year-old company has an accumulated deficit of more than $1 billion and in recent months has issued vast quantities of new stock as it restructures its debt.

This week it said in a regulatory filing that it now has nearly 322 million shares outstanding. Three months ago, the figure was about 58 million.