Vancouver's largest biotech firm, QLT Inc. (TSX:QLT; Nasdaq:QLTI), has formed a special committee to review the possibility of selling all or part of the company's assets.
The committee, which is made up of three independent directors, and Morrison & Forester LLP as legal counsel will review the company's strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value.
QLT said the company's net asset value currently exceeds its stock price. The company's share price has taken a consistent beating in the past year, falling from around $10 last December to less than $4 a share in the past week. This is despite its $42 million acquisition of ForSight in mid-October, which owns a proprietary plug drug delivery system.
Part of the company's challenge has been declining sales of its main eye drug, Visudyne, which is facing increased competition in the European market. Visudyne sales fell to $48.7 million in its third quarter ending September 30, 2007, compared with $75.1 million in the same period a year earlier.
Last month, the company said it was planning to restructure its research and development portfolio to reduce overall costs by about 20%.
QLT's share price range during the past week: between $3.46 and $3.88; 52-week high: $11.67; 52-week low: $3.44.