Former Immunomedics Chief Financial Officer Usama Malik has pleaded guilty to a charge of insider trading for tipping off his girlfriend that the biotech’s breast cancer drug had succeeded in a clinical trial, allowing her time to purchase shares before the information went public.
Immunomedics' Biologic Trodelvy (nSacituzumab Govitecan) Receives Approval in the U.S.
DOJ had initially alleged last year that Malik, formerly the CFO at Immunomedics, gave information to his then-girlfriend and four others regarding a Phase III study halt of breast cancer drug Trodelvy, four days before Immunomedics publicly announced it would be stopping the trial early due to promising signs that it helped patients with triple negative breast cancer. Trodelvy later became the crown jewel of the nearly $21 billion Immunomedics buyout by Gilead several months after the alleged incident.
Immunomedics`s Biologic Trodelvy (Sacituzumab Govitecan) Receives Approval in the U.S.
The indictments, filed Wednesday, stem from Malik’s time as CFO at Immunomedics, a role he held for four years, leading the biopharma to a $21 billion exit via acquisition by Gilead in 2020.
Almost six years ago, Immunomedics teased an ASCO data drop pertaining to its triple-negative breast cancer candidate IMMU-132, which won FDA approval in April 2020 as Trodelvy. Problem was, the data were old and had already been presented at another industry congress. ASCO ultimately booted Immunomedics from the meeting in 2016.
When Gilead Sciences picked up Immunomedics and the breast cancer drug Trodelvy for $21 billion a couple years back, the company billed the buyout as a major expansion into oncology. Now, the California-based drugmaker is laying off more than 100 staffers based out of the former Immunomedics headquarters as it gears up for change in New Jersey.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Usama Malik with insider trading during his time as chief financial officer of Immunomedics, a biopharma he helped lead to a $21 billion exit via a Gilead Sciences acquisition last year.
She got Trodelvy to the finish line and now Loretta Itri, M.D., hopes to get Aadi Bioscience's first drug to market. The Immunomedics chief medical officer is leaving the Gilead-owned company to take up the same post at Aadi.
On the heels of a $62 million round, Denmark’s Adcendo has a new CEO: Michael Pehl, formerly Celgene’s oncology chief and CEO of Immunomedics.