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A former cutting-edge biotech CEO and the person overseeing its lab have been indicted for getting a little fast-and-loose with the truth of its test results. No, not that former high-flying CEO and her ex-boyfriend chief operating officer; they’ve already been sentenced to a combined 24 years in prison. This time, it’s a couple of guys who looked at the HIV drug they were developing and thought—repeatedly, out loud and in public—that maybe it was just the miracle cure our pandemic-ridden world needed. And maybe did a bit of trading around it, too.
Prosecutors alleged that Dr. [Nader] Pourhassan, 59 years old, and Dr. [Kazem] Kazempour, 69, made CytoDyn issue false and misleading statements about the timelines for seeking FDA approval for leronlimab as an HIV treatment.
The prosecutors alleged the executives made the claims to drive up CytoDyn’s stock price for their personal benefit….
In April 2020, Dr. Pourhassan had Dr. Kazempour and Amarex seek leronlimab’s FDA approval on CytoDyn’s behalf to tell investors the submission had been made, prosecutors said.
The men knew the FDA would decline to review an incomplete application, prosecutors said.
The men then misrepresented, in a press release, that the application was complete, prosecutors said. The FDA emailed CytoDyn that its press release was incorrect, prosecutors said.
Two Biotech CEOs Indicted on Securities Fraud Charges [WSJ]
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