SiliconBeat

Vermillion, the biotech company formerly known as Ciphergen Biosystems, filed for bankruptcy protection Monday after losing four of the directors on its board the week before, when it also received the the asked-for resignations of its CEO, interim chief financial officer, and vice president in charge of business development.

None of the director resignations were “the result of any disagreement” with the company, and the senior executives quit “for the sole reason of conserving Company resources”, according to the filing announcing the news.

We first wrote about Vermillion in September 2007 when we noted that Phronesis Partners, an Ohio-based hedge fund that takes its name from a Greek term used by the philosopher Aristotle to denote “practical wisdom,” or “prudence,” disclosed that it was Vermillion’s largest shareholder then the largest owner of of a company that has yet to show a profit and has accumulated losses to the tune of $218 million since its founding in 1993.

Vermillion, the Fremont company formerly known as Ciphergen Biosystems that develops medical diagnostic tests, lost its chief scientific officer March 19. Dr. Eric Fung told the company he wished to pursue “another career opportunity.” The resignation was for personal reasons, the company assures us, and was “not the results of any disagreement with the company.”

Fung, 38, joined the company in 2000 as a lead Read the rest of this entry »

Qun Zhou was reappointed interim Chief Financial Officer at Vermillion, the Fremont company formerly known as Ciphergen Biosystems that develops medical diagnostic tests, to replace the previous interim CFO Richard Taylor, who had served in that function as a consultant to the company since August.

Taylor and Vermillion agreed not to renew his consulting agreement, which expired on November 26,  “by mutual consent.”

Zhou served as controller at Vermillion since February 2007, and served as its interim CFO from November 1, 2007 to August 26, 2008. Prior to joining the company, Zhou served as Read the rest of this entry »

Shares of Vermillion, the Fremont company formerly known as Ciphergen Biosystems that develops medical diagnostic tests, were delisted from the Nasdaq stock market last week after failing to lift its stockholder equity above the minimum level required for continued listing. Its shares (ticker: VRML) can now be found in the Pink Sheets, an electronic quotation service for stocks traded over-the-counter, according to a company filing Thursday.

In July, Vermillion agreed to pay ThinkPanmure, a San Francisco “global growth company” investment banking firm, a $150,000 retainer out of its $5 million in remaining cash Read the rest of this entry »