Share trading in TruSpine Technologies Plc has been suspended after the company delayed the completion and publication of its annual accounts.
Based at London Gatwick, the medical device company is focused on the spinal stabilisation market. It is aiming to commercialise Cervi-LOK, a screw-free spinal stabilisation system which aims to minimise the risk of vertebral artery injury which can cause brainstem stroke or nerve root and spinal cord injury.
However it has no remaining full-time staff – according to LinkedIn – and a long history of controversy since listing on the Aquis Exchange in 2020.
So how did it come to this?
Emergency funding & shareholder revolts
Following an emergency loan from former chairman Martin Armstrong in early 2024, it claimed soon afterwards that it had secured potentially life-saving funding of £300,000 through a share placing – with more than a third of these subscribed for by incoming chairman Geoff Miller (pictured) – and an unsecured convertible loan note to the value of up to £1.5m.
Guernsey-based Miller, co-founder of venture capital company Afaafa Ltd with long experience as a chair and CEO, was appointed chair while Victoria Sena and Samuel Ogunsalu became non-executive directors. They remain in those roles today.
However, shareholders remained unconvinced. CEO Laurence Strauss would subsequently resign amid investor unrest, having survived a shareholder revolt in 2023.
CFO Norman Lott, who had also come under fire for the company’s plummeting share price – and failure to secure an FDA licence to sell into the United States – seemed to remain in post.
Earlier this year, Lott retired from the board, alongside Tim Evans and Nikunj Patel. Dr Evans and Patel remained as members of Truspine’s medical advisory board, the firm said, providing continual input on the medical side.
Ian Roberts, TruSpine’s chief medical officer, remains with the firm on a contract basis, according to LinkedIn.
Fine
TruSpine continued to face a £165,000 suspended element of a £215,000 fine originally imposed on the company in 2023 for delaying the announcement of the issue of new shares earlier that year.
In May this year, AQSE enforced £15,000 of this suspended element, which TruSpine settled from its cash resources.
The remaining £150,000 of the suspended fine remains in place and may become payable should the company breach the AQSE Growth Market Rules at any time up to 16th August 2026.
“The company has taken steps to strengthen its systems and controls procedures to prevent any recurrence,” TruSpine said at the time.
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Enter Axis
Soon afterwards, an investment vehicle founded by Miller in March acquired his £136,573 convertible loan notes for shares. Axis MedTech is focused on investing in the life sciences sector. Miller and Ogunsalu are its sole directors, and Miller is its sole shareholder.
The deal raised £49,500 for the company, said TruSpine, and left Miller holding almost 9% of its issued ordinary shares, with Axis holding more than 2%.
Bitcoin treasury
The company’s annual general meeting this summer passed resolutions including a changing of its name to TSP Advanced Technologies plc, adoption of a Bitcoin treasury policy, plans to acquire new third-party intellectual property assets – and active exploration of fundraising avenues to support these endeavours.
However those plans may now grind to a halt.
Latest development
Completion of the firm’s audited accounts for the year to 29th March 2025 have been delayed – and trading in its shares has been suspended temporarily as a result.
“The company anticipates that it will be in a position to publish its final results shortly, following which trading in its shares will be restored. A further announcement will be made in due course,” it said in a notice published to the London Stock Exchange.
TruSpine’s last published results were for the six months to 30th September 2024, which saw it make a £410,00 loss – compared to £363,000 in 2023.
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