Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NAVB): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

When you analyze a biopharmaceutical company like Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NAVB), are you looking at a disruptive technology or a distressed asset? The company, which specializes in precision immunodiagnostic agents built on its Manocept platform, is at a critical juncture, having filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 1, 2025, despite possessing approximately $170 million in U.S. federal Net Operating Losses (NOLs) it aims to protect. How does a company with a commercialized product like Tc99m tilmanocept, and a mission to precisely identify disease, record annual sales of just $70 K and a net loss of over $15.18 million, based on the latest available annual data? We need to cut through the noise to understand the full history, ownership structure, and the exact mechanics of how Navidea Biopharmaceuticals works and makes money-or, more accurately, why it hasn't been able to.

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NAVB) History

Given Company's Founding Timeline

You're looking for the genesis of Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., and honestly, you have to look back to its original corporate identity, Neoprobe Corporation. The company has been through a major transformation, but the roots go back over four decades to a focus on diagnostic technology.

Year established

The company was established in 1983, originally as Neoprobe Corporation.

Original location

The original location and current headquarters are in Dublin, Ohio, with a corporate office in Columbus, Ohio.

Founding team members

The specific original founding team members of Neoprobe Corporation in 1983 are not publicly detailed in recent corporate filings. The company's evolution has been marked more by shifts in technology and leadership over time, such as Dr. Mark Pykett who was President and CEO during the pivotal 2011 name change.

Initial capital/funding

The initial capital from 1983 remains undisclosed, but the company's early history included significant public funding events. For example, a 1994 public offering raised approximately $4.54 million. More recently, a Post-IPO funding round in March 2021 brought in $5 million.

Given Company's Evolution Milestones

The company's history is a classic biotech story of pivoting from a device focus to a pure-play radiopharmaceutical platform. The sale of the core device business was the key, so that's where the current company truly began.

Given Company's Transformative Moments

The real shift for Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. wasn't the founding, but the decision to sell its primary revenue source-the Neoprobe device business-in 2011. That move was a huge risk, but it forced the company to become a pure-play biopharma focused on the Manocept technology.

To be fair, the lack of consistent revenue has been the major headwind since that pivot, especially when you look at the Trailing Twelve-Month (TTM) revenue of only $610.00 thousand as of September 30, 2023. That's a tiny figure for a publicly traded biotech with a commercial product like Lymphoseek.

The ultimate transformative moment, which you need to act on now, is the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on October 1, 2025. This filing under Subchapter V is a clear signal that the company is in a deep financial restructuring phase, attempting to simplify its capital structure and preserve value, which is why the stock price was effectively zero on that day. This is a defintely a high-risk situation that requires a complete re-evaluation of the company's long-term viability, even with promising pipeline assets like those targeting rheumatoid arthritis. You can read more about the company's strategic goals here: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NAVB).

• 2011 Device Sale: Shed a profitable device business for $30 million upfront to focus entirely on the riskier, but higher-reward, drug development pipeline.
• Manocept Platform Focus: Dedicated all resources to the Manocept platform, which targets the CD206 mannose receptor on activated macrophages, a key mechanism for imaging and treating inflammatory diseases.
• 2025 Bankruptcy: The Chapter 11 filing in October 2025 shifted the company's focus from clinical trials to creditor negotiations and survival.

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NAVB) Ownership Structure

The ownership of Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NAVB) is highly concentrated among insiders and retail investors, a structure often seen in micro-cap biopharma companies, especially given its current financial distress. This control dynamic is critical as the company navigates its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, which fundamentally changes the power balance between equity holders and creditors.

Given Company's Current Status

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals is a publicly traded company, though its status is precarious. On October 1, 2025, the company filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11, Subchapter V, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. This action is intended to restructure financial obligations while preserving assets and limited operations.

Trading in the stock, which was previously listed on the NYSE American under NAVB, has been volatile and is now often referenced with the ticker NAVBQ or OTCPK:NAVB, reflecting its distressed status. As of November 14, 2025, the market capitalization stood at a mere $10.00K, with the stock trading at approximately $0.0001 per share. For the 2025 fiscal year, the company reported Annual Sales of only $70 K and a significant Annual Income loss of -$15,180 K as of early October 2025.

You can see the full strategic context driving these decisions here: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NAVB).

Given Company's Ownership Breakdown

The ownership structure shows that a significant portion of the company is held by insiders, which gives them substantial voting power over any restructuring or strategic decisions, even during bankruptcy proceedings.

Here's the quick math: with insiders holding over a third of the company, they defintely have a powerful voice in the Chapter 11 process, even if the equity value is near zero. What this estimate hides is the potential for creditor control to supersede equity holders in bankruptcy.

Given Company's Leadership

The company's leadership team is currently focused on navigating the challenging financial and operational landscape created by the Chapter 11 filing. Leadership continuity is critical for preserving the value of their core assets, like the Manocept™ platform.

• Chief Financial Officer (CFO): Craig A. Dais, CPA. He manages all finance, administration, HR, and IT functions, including SEC filings and cash flow-a huge job during a restructuring.
• Vice Chair of the Board: John K. Scott, Jr. Mr. Scott brings extensive experience in due diligence, financial analysis, and transaction negotiations to the Board.
• Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Status: Public information is mixed; some sources indicate the company currently has no CEO or have no recent data, while others mention Michael S. Rosol, PhD, in a snapshot. The official website currently only lists the CFO on its management page.

The board and management are operating under immense pressure to evaluate strategic alternatives and protect the company's intellectual property, including approximately $170 million in U.S. federal Net Operating Losses (NOLs) and $9 million in R&D tax credits. You should watch for any new appointments or board changes as the restructuring progresses.

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NAVB) Mission and Values

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.'s core purpose centers on revolutionizing patient care through precision medicine (immuno-targeted products), a commitment that guides its development of diagnostics and therapeutics for serious diseases like cancer and autoimmune conditions. This patient-first approach is the bedrock of its corporate culture, even as the company manages significant financial restructuring, including its October 2025 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.'s Core Purpose

You're looking beyond the balance sheet to see the company's cultural DNA, and honestly, that's where the long-term value, or lack thereof, is often found. Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.'s purpose is clearly defined across its key stakeholders: patients, investors, and employees. Here's the quick math on their priorities.

Official Mission Statement

The company's mission is fundamentally about precision and impact, focusing on the Manocept™ platform (a proprietary technology targeting the CD206 mannose receptor) to enhance diagnostic and treatment outcomes.

• Develop and commercialize precision immunodiagnostic agents and immunotherapeutics.
• Help identify the sites and pathways of undetected disease for better diagnostic accuracy.
• Enable improved clinical decision-making, targeted treatment, and ultimately, patient care.

For investors, the mission also includes delivering superior growth, though the reality of its $70 K in Annual Sales and the Chapter 11 filing in 2025 tells a complex story.

Vision Statement

The vision is a clear, powerful statement of a future state, one where medical uncertainty is replaced by certainty in diagnosis and treatment. That's a big, defintely worthwhile goal.

• Navidea Envisions a World Where Disease can be Precisely Identified and Treated.
• Seek to develop next-generation targeted diagnostics and therapies for conditions like cancer, autoimmune, infectious, and inflammatory diseases.

This vision is underpinned by the strategic value of its assets, such as the approximately $170 million in U.S. federal Net Operating Loss carryforwards (NOLs) the company is working to protect through 2027 to offset future taxable income.

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. Slogan/Tagline

While an official, punchy slogan isn't always front-and-center for biopharmaceutical companies, their self-description acts as the market-facing tagline. It cuts straight to their value proposition, which is Exploring Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NAVB) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

• A leader in precision medicine with immuno-targeted products.

The company's cultural DNA for employees is focused on the direct contributions their efforts make for the patients they serve, fostering an innovative development environment for new breakthrough products.

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NAVB) How It Works

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. operates by developing precision immunodiagnostic and immunotherapeutic agents based on its proprietary Manocept platform, which is designed to specifically target disease-associated macrophages (a type of immune cell). As of November 2025, the company is primarily focused on preserving its core technology and intellectual property while undergoing an orderly financial restructuring after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 1, 2025.

Given Company's Product/Service Portfolio

Given Company's Operational Framework

The company's operational framework is currently dominated by its financial distress and the Chapter 11 restructuring process, which aims to preserve value for creditors and stakeholders. This means the focus has shifted from aggressive clinical trial execution to asset management and strategic partnering.

• Core R&D Focus: Research and development (R&D) is centered on the Manocept platform, specifically exploring its potential as a therapeutic delivery system, following the suspension of the pivotal Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) diagnostic trial in July 2024.
• Financial Activity: Revenue generation is minimal, primarily derived from royalties and grants. Total revenue for the recent period was approximately $65.65K, with 77.7% coming from grant revenue. This low revenue base is why the company is actively seeking non-dilutive funding and strategic partnerships.
• Restructuring Mandate: The Chapter 11 filing is intended to facilitate an orderly restructuring of financial obligations and explore strategic alternatives for the company's assets. This is a critical action to maintain the value of the intellectual property.
• Cost Management: The company has pursued measures like a potential reverse stock split (extended authority until July 2027) to simplify the capitalization table and reduce the number of record holders, which is a key step toward staying below the SEC reporting threshold and lowering administrative costs. That's a defintely necessary cost-cutting measure.

For a deeper dive into the company's long-term goals, you can review its Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NAVB).

Given Company's Strategic Advantages

In a restructuring environment, strategic advantages pivot from market share to proprietary asset value and financial structure benefits.

• Proprietary Technology: The Manocept platform is a unique, patented technology for targeting the CD206 mannose receptor on activated macrophages, which are central to many inflammatory, autoimmune, and oncological diseases. This specificity offers a high-value entry point for both diagnostic and therapeutic conjugates.
• Tax Asset Preservation: The company has a significant pool of Net Operating Loss Carryforwards (NOLs), estimated at approximately $170 million as of December 31, 2024, plus about $9 million in R&D tax credits. The Section 382 Rights Plan, extended to April 7, 2027, is designed to protect these assets from being limited by an ownership change, making the company potentially more attractive to a strategic acquirer or partner.
• Pipeline Optionality: Despite the setback in the RA diagnostic program, the core Manocept platform retains significant optionality across multiple disease areas, including therapeutic applications for cancer and infectious diseases. The pivot to therapeutic assets is a strategic move to maximize the platform's value.
• Financial Reality: Here's the quick math: The company's recent annual income was a loss of approximately -$15,180 K. The primary strategic advantage now is the value of the intellectual property and the tax shield (NOLs) against its total liabilities of $7.98 million.

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NAVB) How It Makes Money

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.'s financial engine is currently in distress, having filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 1, 2025, meaning its revenue model has essentially collapsed and is focused on preserving value through limited operations. Historically, the company generated revenue not from direct product sales of its drug Lymphoseek (Tc99m tilmanocept), which was out-licensed, but primarily from non-dilutive government grants and royalties/licensing fees tied to its core Manocept technology platform.

You need to understand that a biopharma company's revenue is often lumpy, but Navidea's situation is extreme. The trailing twelve-month (TTM) revenue as of September 30, 2023, was only $610,000 (in thousands, USD), which is a tiny figure for a public company and clearly unsustainable.

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.'s Revenue Breakdown

The company's revenue streams, based on the last full reported breakdown (FY 2022), show a heavy reliance on non-commercial funding, a model that has proven financially unviable and led directly to the 2025 bankruptcy. The total revenue for FY 2022 was only $65,650 (in thousands, USD).

Here's the quick math on the historical model: Nearly four-fifths of the company's revenue came from grants, which are inherently unstable and tied to specific research milestones, not market demand. The small royalty stream comes from the out-licensed product, Tc99m tilmanocept, which is indicated for sentinel lymph node detection in certain cancers and melanoma.

Business Economics

The core economic reality for Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. is that it operated as a high-burn research and development (R&D) entity without sufficient commercial revenue to cover its costs, a classic biotech dilemma gone wrong.

• Cost Structure: The company's primary expense is R&D, focused on advancing its Manocept platform for new indications like rheumatoid arthritis. This is a fixed, high-cost investment that requires constant capital infusion.
• Pricing Strategy: The pricing of its licensed product, Tc99m tilmanocept, is determined by its commercial partner, not Navidea, limiting its ability to control the gross margin on sales. Its own revenue is essentially a fee-for-service (Grant) or a percentage of sales (Royalty).
• Capital Burn: The business model was predicated on successfully developing and partnering its pipeline assets, but the burn rate outpaced the capital raised. The net loss for the full year 2022 was approximately $14.0 million (in thousands, USD), illustrating the significant cash drain.
• IP Value: The true value remaining in the company lies in its intellectual property (IP), specifically the Manocept technology and its diverse portfolio of patents, which the Chapter 11 process is intended to protect and potentially monetize.

Honestly, the business economics shifted from 'biotech development' to 'asset liquidation' the moment the bankruptcy filing was made.

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.'s Financial Performance

The company's financial performance as of November 2025 is best described as a distressed asset undergoing restructuring, with key metrics reflecting severe financial strain.

• Bankruptcy Status: Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. filed for Chapter 11, Subchapter V, on October 1, 2025, confirming the business model's failure to achieve self-sustainability.
• Market Capitalization: The market valuation is minimal, with the market cap sitting at only $5 million as of November 10, 2023, reflecting a near-complete loss of investor confidence even before the bankruptcy filing.
• Stock Delisting: The company's stock symbol is now traded over-the-counter (OTCPK: NAVBQ), having been delisted from a major exchange, which severely limits liquidity and access to capital markets.
• Cash Position: The lack of a strong cash position to fund its R&D and operations was the ultimate trigger for the Chapter 11 filing, as it could no longer meet its financial obligations.

To be fair, the company's future is now entirely dependent on the outcome of the Chapter 11 process-either a successful restructuring or a sale of its core assets. You can get a deeper look at the situation by Breaking Down Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NAVB) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NAVB) Market Position & Future Outlook

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.'s future is centered on a financial restructuring process following its Chapter 11, Subchapter V bankruptcy filing on October 1, 2025, which aims to preserve the value of its core asset, the Manocept platform. The company's outlook hinges entirely on successfully executing a restructuring plan or securing a strategic partnership to fund the clinical development of its precision immunodiagnostic agents.

Competitive Landscape

In the expansive radiopharmaceuticals market, Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. is a niche player focused on diagnostic agents, primarily Tc99m tilmanocept (Lymphoseek). The total global radiopharmaceuticals market is valued at approximately USD 7.2 billion in 2025, with the diagnostic segment dominating. Given Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.'s trailing twelve-month revenue of only $610.00 thousand, its market share is extremely small, but its technology offers a distinct clinical edge.

Opportunities & Challenges

The company's strategic initiatives are currently framed by its 'Fix, Fund, Propel' approach, which is now heavily focused on the 'Fund' aspect-securing non-dilutive financing or a partnership to advance its pipeline, especially the promising work in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). This is a high-risk, high-reward situation. For a deeper dive into the shareholder structure during this period, you should look at Exploring Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NAVB) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Industry Position

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. holds a precarious position as of November 2025. It is a technology-rich, but cash-poor, micro-cap firm operating in a capital-intensive industry. Its industry standing is defined by its innovative technology versus its financial distress.

• Technology Niche: The Manocept platform is a genuinely differentiated technology, specifically targeting the CD206 macrophage receptor-a key player in inflammation and certain cancers.
• Financial Status: The Chapter 11 filing on October 1, 2025, positions the company as financially distressed, with a primary goal of restructuring and asset preservation.
• Market Scale: The company's annual sales are marginal compared to the $7.2 billion radiopharmaceuticals market, meaning it has virtually no market power.
• Actionable Insight: The company is defintely a high-risk turnaround play; its value is tied to a successful sale or partnership deal for its intellectual property (IP) and clinical data, not current sales of Tc99m tilmanocept.

Finance: Monitor the Chapter 11 docket for key restructuring milestones and deadlines for asset sales or partnership agreements.