SiliconBeat

Xtent, the Menlo Park development-stage medical device company that went public about 27 months ago, has decided to throw in the towel and liquidate its assets and dissolve.

The board made the decision Friday, subject to the approval of a special meeting of the stockholders.

In its initial offering Jan. 31, 2007, Xtent sold 4.7 million shares for $16 each, raising about $70 million for the company after underwriting expenses were deducted. The company’s registration statement, in which it claimed it “saw the future” regarding stent technology used to treat coronary artery disease.

The company’s development stage product was a stents built in modular forms that were supposed to allow physician to customize the stent length and deploy the necessary stent segments in the artery as needed during surgery.

In July, the company slashed its workforce by a third as it sought to preserve cash, and in December it let go of nearly everyone else and said it had hired Piper Jaffray & Co. to help it “evaluate strategic alternatives,” including a merger or sale.

At the end of its most recent quarter Xtent reported having $12 million in cash and short-term investments, down from $19 million at the end of the year.

Xtent shares lost 71 percent of their value in Monday trading, closing down 71 cents to 29 cents.