Hope springs eternal at Altair
Nanotechnologies Inc. in Reno, and the
company says private placements of stock
have given it the capital to continue pursuit
of those hopes at least for a while.
The company holds a patent that it says
represents the first major step forward in 50
years in the production of white titanium
dioxide.
That's the most widely used white pigment
in the world, and Altair says its patent
promises substantial cost reductions in production
of the pigment.
The big question at Altair in recent
months, however, has been its ability to raise
the capital it needs while it looks for ways to
capitalize on the pigment patent.
Ed Dickinson, Altair's chief financial
officer, said last week the company has completed
several private placements and
believes it now has enough capital to meet
its short-term needs. He said, however, that
the company will burn through its capital in
something less than a year and is looking for
additional financing.
Altair's filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission show it lost $6.26
million on revenues of $53,671 in the first
half of this year.
That's a pace that would approximately
double the $6.02 million Altair lost during
2001 and the $6.6 million it lost a year earlier.
Reporting the loss for the first half of this
year, the company acknowledged substantial
doubt about its ability to stay in business as a
going concern. It said, too, it almost certainly
would need an infusion of capital before
Oct. 31 cash that has been provided by
the private placements.
But the company feels optimistic about a
recent deal.
Altair said late last month that an
unidentified company is beginning tests of
Altair Nanotechnologies' patented system
for making white titanium dioxide pigments.
If the five-month test is successful, Altair
said the client might license the Reno company's
technology. It said the testing will
generate revenues in "the low six figures."
Dickinson said last week the test is "going
fine so far."
In a prospectus issued last May as six
shareholders sold 1.8 million in Altair
shares, the company cautioned, however,
there is no assurance it will be able to
generate any revenue from the titanium
dioxide business.
In another development reported in
late September, Altair said it's looking for
partners to market a new pharmaceutical
to help kidney dialysis patients. It said
five pharamaceutical companies are interested
enough to have signed confidentiality
agreements to look at the product
Altair dubbed Renazorb.
The combination of a white-pigment
business with a dialysis product isn't
unusual for Altair.
It got into business as Altair
International Gold, a mining outfit based
in Wyoming, changed its focus in the mid
1990s to new technology in the mining
equipment business and shifted its focus
once again in July as it changed its name
to Altair Nanotechnologies.
The company and its 20 Reno
employees occupy an 80,000-square-foot
building "Plenty of room to grow,"
quipped Dickinson at 204 Edison Way
in east Reno.
The company's stock, which just began
trading on the NASDAQ SmallCap
Market, was at 67 cents a share last week.
The stock reached its recent low, 30 cents
a share, in July. The NASDAQ National
Market System, where the stock previously
traded, requires a $1 minimum bid price
for continued listing.
