BEIJING, Aug. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sinovac Biotech
Ltd. (NASDAQ: SVA)("Sinovac" or the
"Company"), a leading provider of
biopharmaceutical products in China, announced today that The NASDAQ Stock
Market ("NASDAQ") has accepted the
Company's plan to regain compliance with NASDAQ Listing Rule
5250(c)(1) (the "Rule") and granted
an exception to the Company to extend the deadline for complying
with the Rule to October 30, 2017.The Company may regain compliance
at any time before October 30, 2017 upon filing with the SEC its
Annual Report on form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2016
(the "2016 Annual Report").In the
event that the Company does not satisfy the terms set forth in the
extension, NASDAQ will provide written notification that the
Company's common shares will be subject to delisting proceedings.
At that time, the Company may appeal NASDAQ's determination for a
panel review.
As announced previously, on May 1,
2017, the Company filed a Form 12b-25, Notification of Late
Filing, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") regarding the delayed filing of the
2016 Annual Report. On July 10, 2017,
the Company submitted a compliance plan to NASDAQ to support its
request for an extension of time to regain compliance with NASDAQ's
continued listing requirements. The submission of the compliance
plan is in response to a written letter from the Listing
Qualifications Department of NASDAQ dated May 10, 2017 indicating that the Company was not
in compliance with the Rule because the Company had failed to file
the 2016 Annual Report within four months after the end of year
2016 and did not expect that it will be able to file the 2016
Annual Report within the 15-day
extension period.
The 2016 Annual Report was delayed because Company's Audit
Committee (the "Audit Committee")
required additional time for its internal investigation regarding
allegations raised in a research report by Geoinvesting. The
investigation has slowed completion of the Company's financial
statements and audit for the year ended December 31, 2016.The Company's management and
the Audit Committee are continuing to work diligently to complete
the 2016 Annual Report and file it with the SEC as soon as
possible.
After the Company publicly announced the internal investigation
arising from the Geoinvesting report, the SEC staff notified the
Company of an enforcement inquiry related to the matters discussed
in the article. The SEC staff subsequently issued a subpoena
requesting documents related to the internal investigation. The
Company, at the direction of the Audit Committee and with the
assistance of independent counsel, has been cooperating with the
SEC in response to the staff's requests for information.
In June 2017, the Company became
aware of certain judgments based on bribery charges issued by
Chinese courts in four provinces against various officials of the
Chinese Center for Disease Control (the "CDC"). While these judgments appear to
reflect an industry-wide investigation focused on CDC officials,
they also referenced eight of the Company's former and current
salespersons, together with sales personnel from several other
Chinese vaccine companies and distributors. However, these
judgments did not name the Company or any of its directors,
officers and employees as defendants. Upon becoming aware of these
judgments, the Audit Committee expanded its internal investigation
to review matters related to these judgments and the Company's
sales practices and policies.
On July 3, 2017, a securities
class action complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the
District of New Jersey against the
Company and three of its current and former officers: Mr.
Weidong Yin, the Company's current
chief executive officer, Ms. Nan
Wang, the Company's current chief financial officer, and Mr.
Danny Chung, the Company's former
chief financial officer. The complaint asserts that statements in
the Company's annual filings for fiscal years 2012 through 2015
were false and misleading because they failed to disclose matters
relating to the alleged bribery incidents, among other
allegations. The Company is vigorously defending this
lawsuit.
On July12, 2017, another securities class action complaint was
filed in the Supreme Court of the State
of New York against the Company and certain directors, among
others. The complaint alleges that the Company's directors breached
their fiduciary duties by, among other things, initiating a
self-dealing going-private transaction at a per share consideration that is less than the true
value of their investment in the Company. The complaint also
alleges that the Company aided and abetted those alleged breaches
of fiduciary duties by the Company's directors. The complaint
seeks, among other things, an injunction preventing completion of
the going-private transaction, damages (including rescissory
damages) in favor of the plaintiff and the class, and the fees and costs associated with the
litigation. The Company is vigorously defending this lawsuit
as well.
About Sinovac
Sinovac Biotech Ltd. is a China-based biopharmaceutical company that
focuses on the research, development, manufacturing and
commercialization of vaccines that protect against human infectious
diseases. Sinovac's product portfolio includes vaccines against
enterovirus71, or EV71, hepatitis A and B, seasonal influenza, H5N1
pandemic influenza (avian flu), H1N1 influenza (swine flu), and
mumps. In addition, an innovative vaccine developed by Sinovac
against hand foot and mouth disease caused by EV 71 was
commercialized in China in 2016.
In 2009, Sinovac was the first company worldwide to receive
approval for its H1N1 influenza vaccine, which it has supplied to
the Chinese Government's vaccination campaign and stockpiling
program. The Company is also the only supplier of the H5N1 pandemic
influenza vaccine to the government stockpiling program. The
Company is currently developing a number of new products including
a Sabin-strain inactivated polio vaccine, pneumococcal
polysaccharides vaccine, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and
varicella vaccine. Sinovac primarily sells its vaccines in
China, while also exploring growth
opportunities in international markets. The Company has exported
select vaccines to 10 countries in Asia and South
America. For more information, please visit the Company's
website at www.sinovac.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These
statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases
such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends,"
"plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among
other things, the business outlook and quotations from management
in this press release contain forward-looking statements.
Statements that are not historical facts, including statements
about Sinovac's beliefs and expectations (including with respect to
the filing of the2016 Annual Report, the compliance plan, the
internal investigation, the SEC enforcement action and the
litigation matters discussed above), are forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and
uncertainties. A number of important factors could cause actual
results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-
looking statement. Sinovac does not undertake any obligation to
update any forward-looking statement, except as required under
applicable law.
Contact
Sinovac Biotech Ltd.
Helen
Yang
Tel: +86-10-8279-9871
Fax: +86-10-6296-6910
Email: ir@sinovac.com
ICR Inc.
Bill Zima
U.S: 1-646-308-1707
Email: william.zima@icrinc.com
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SOURCE Sinovac Biotech Co., Ltd.