Magna-Lab moves to NASDAQ's OTC board

The stock of niche MRI developer Magna-Lab has been moved to NASDAQ's OTC Bulletin Board due tothe company's failure to meet minimum listing requirements onNASDAQ's Small-Cap exchange. Magna-Lab, of Hicksville, NY, hopesto return to the small-cap market after securing additional fundinglater this year, according to vice president John Haytaian.

Magna-Lab failed to meet NASDAQ's net worth requirement of$1 million for the small-cap market after a private equity placementfell through late last year and the company began using debt tofund operations (SCAN 12/14/94). NASDAQ made the decision to moveMagna-Lab's stock earlier this month. Ironically, Magna-Lab'sstock began moving upward after the move, Haytaian said.

Magna-Lab signed a letter of intent this month for a secondarypublic offering of $5 million to take place in the next two tothree months that will bring the company back into compliancewith NASDAQ requirements. The firm may also complete a privateequity placement by then, according to Haytaian.

The company has been rounding out its stable of distributionpartners for the Magna-SL 0.3-tesla scanner, which received Foodand Drug Administration clearance last year (SCAN 9/28/94). Magna-Labthis month signed an agreement with American Medical Concepts(AMCI) of Houston to distribute Magna-SL to the U.S. orthopedicmarket. The deal will complement an agreement with Beta-Numericsfor the fee-per-scan and mobile markets, as well as a deal withElscint for international sales that has not yet been finalized.

Magna-Lab this month completed the first installation of Magna-SLto MedCenter Imaging in San Antonio, TX. The installation tookonly two days, Haytaian said. Imaging services firm Health Imagesof Atlanta will be under contract by Magna-Lab to provide servicefor that unit, he said.