There are certain names you don't want on your resume, even if your connection to them is fleeting.
You might have just been an entertainer or a waiter flown to Jeffrey Epstein's island with no knowledge of any wrongdoing, but most people would not welcome that association.
Alumni of Hofstra University on New York's Long Island, for example, cite the director Francis Ford Coppola, the comedian Ray Romano and the NFL New York Jets' Wayne Chrebet as having attended the school. But they rarely mention Bernie Madoff.
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Nobody (or at least very few people) takes pride in being associated with someone who ran a massive Ponzi scheme. Even if Madoff did not graduate from the school, it's an uncomfortable association that's not making it into any of the recruitment brochures.
And you have to assume that whatever schools former Enron CEO Ken Lay attended probably keep that pretty quiet.
Still, even though the disgraced pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli briefly controlled Humanigen, you can't blame him for the company's failure.
The association is not a proud one for the once-promising drugmaker, but it's not what pushed the company into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and a likely liquidation.
Image source: Getty Images
Humanigen files for bankruptcy protection
Humanigen (HGEN) -) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on preventing and treating an immune hyperresponse called cytokine storm. It created a drug, lenzilumab, designed to limit that response and help people recover from certain viruses faster.
"Lenzilumab is a first-in-class antibody that binds to and neutralizes granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF)," the company said on its website.
"Results from preclinical models indicate GM-CSF is an upstream regulator of many inflammatory cytokines and chemokines involved in the cytokine storm. Early in the covid-19 pandemic, investigation showed high levels of GM-CSF-secreting T cells were associated with disease severity and intensive care unit admission."
The idea was promising but never received approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
"The FDA stated in a letter that it was unable to conclude that the known and potential benefits of Lenzilumab outweighed known and potential risks of its use as a treatment for covid-19," Genetic Engineering and Biotech News reported.
Humanigen was welcomed to submit more evidence, but it was never able to get approval for the drug, which essentially left it as a company without a product.
Humanigen likely faces liquidation
Humanigen filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Jan. 3 after efforts to sell itself failed. The company explained in its most recent (and final) Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
"The company’s negotiations with a privately held biopharmaceutical company relating to a proposed business combination, as disclosed in the company’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed on May 15, 2023, have ended without execution of a definitive agreement," Humanigen shared.
In that same filing, the company also said it would not be able to meet the requirements to maintain its Nasdaq listing.
Now, Humanigen has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection showing roughly $500,000 in assets and about $44 million in debt. The company had warned of this potential outcome in July.
"In light of the above, and the company’s limited cash and cash equivalents, the company anticipates that it will not be able to continue as a going concern and is exploring all restructuring options, which may include commencing a bankruptcy or other insolvency proceeding sometime in the third quarter of 2023," Humanigen said.
The company made it one quarter longer than expected, but in the end it filed for bankruptcy and the result for shareholders will almost certainly be a bad one.
"The company is evaluating term sheets relating to potential sales of assets in a bankruptcy proceeding. Given the company’s lack of liquidity, any such bankruptcy filing may result in a complete or substantial loss of value for holders of our common stock" Humanigen added.
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