Hawaii Biotech filing for bankruptcy
Hawaii Biotech, Inc. announced Friday that it will file for Chapter 11 reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Honolulu.
The move appears to be an attempt to stave off an effort by one the company's largest shareholders to gain control of the company at the shareholders’ meeting scheduled for Dec. 16.
The privately held biotech company said in a news release that the filing is intended to allow it “to continue its current and planned human clinical trials, keep its staff in place, pursue funding and protect current investors.”
The Aiea company, founded in 1982, has not previously hinted at financial troubles. Over the past eight years, it has raised more than $55 million in federal and state research grants and more than $36 million in private equity financing.
Hawaii Biotech said its president and CEO, Elliot Parks, will continue to manage the company and that the company has lined up more than $2 million from local investors to continue operations.
The company’s bankruptcy filing, which lists assets and debts, was not immediately available from the court.
Executives of Acuvax Ltd., an Australian company that owns 28 percent of Hawaii Biotech, has claimed that Hawaii Biotech’s current management team, led by Parks, has not been aggressive enough in generating income from its vaccines for West Nile virus and dengue fever no fax payday loan.
Acuvax CEO William Ardrey, who holds a seat on the board, has said he wants to try to oust members of Hawaii Biotech’s five-member board, including Parks and Debra Guerin Beresini, co-founder of Silicon Valley-based International Venture Fund.
Acuvax’s main shareholder, another Australian company, owns a 12 percent interest in Hawaii Biotech, for a combined 40 percent stake in Hawaii Biotech.
“Our goal is to continue to build on our recent clinical successes and create value for all shareholders,” Parks said in a prepared statement. “We believe that this reorganization is the best plan of action to attract additional capital, to keep Hawaii Biotech local and to continue progressing through our clinical trials.”
Under Parks’ leadership, Hawaii Biotech, which has 23 full-time employees, entered into human clinical trials for West Nile and dengue fever vaccines within the past two years.
Late last year, Hawaii Biotech completed the first of three phases to prove the safety and efficacy of its proprietary vaccination for West Nile virus.
Meanwhile, in August, the company started the first phase of a clinical safety trial for its dengue vaccine, and said results are expected within a year.