Rosetta Genomics Share Offering: No Good Deeds Go Unpunished

Rosetta Genomics, Ltd. (NASDAQ: ROSG) was an exponential winner on Wednesday due to getting a Medicare reimbursement ruling in its favor.  The company had announced that the Medicare Administrative Contractor approved its miRview® mets² assay would be covered for all Medicare beneficiaries.  MiRview® mets² is said to accurately identify the primary tumor in primary and metastatic cancer including Cancer of Unknown or Uncertain Primary.  Great news, at least right up until the company used the exponential share gains to announce a capital raise.

Shares hit a high of $7.84 as the top-tick on Wednesday and that was against a close of $1.62 the day before.  You have to keep in mind that things were so bad at Rosetta that the company completed a 1 for 15 reverse stock split to close at $2.10 on a split adjusted basis but shares had nominally been at $0.14 before that.  So raising $2.2 million does not sound out of line on the surface, but the offering was a direct share offering of 632,057 ordinary shares at a price of $3.50 per share.  That is a 30% discount, but it was after a gain of more than 200%.

Aegis Capital Corp. acted as the exclusive placement agent for the offering. Rosetta’s use of proceeds is primarily to fund its operations and for other general corporate purposes.  These uses include debt repayment or refinancing, working capital, intellectual property protection and enforcement, capital spending, investments, acquisitions or collaborations, research and development and product development.

Shares are indicated down close to 20% at $4.05 in active trading on what is usually a thin volume stock.  No good deed goes unpunished.

JON C. OGG