Spartan Bioscience Inc.

Spartan Bioscience Inc., an Ottawa, Ontario-based innovative DNA diagnostics company that conducts molecular testing for medical infectious disease, environmental monitoring, and animal diagnostics, had its NOI proceedings continued under the CCAA on June 21. After market introduction, the company's testing device showed a higher than previously observed incidence of returning "inconclusive" results than its clinical trials. Due to these technological challenges, the company faced significant near-term financial pressure, owing in large part to its efforts to ramp up manufacturing and build product inventory to supply the test kits as quickly as possible. This, combined with not being able to ship and bill for its COVID-19 test product, put the company in a working capital shortage and rendered it insolvent. To address its liquidity crisis, the company filed an NOI on April 5 pursuant to the BIA. The company has now sought to continue the NOI proceedings under the CCAA. EY is the monitor. Counsel is Norton Rose for the monitor, Dentons for the company, Vincent Dagenais Gibson for certain shareholders of the company, and Lenczer Slaght for the directors of the company.