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Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals dismisses CEO and founder(San Diego Union-Tribune, The Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Mar. 24--Richard Hollis, chief executive of Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals, the company he founded in 1994, was fired Wednesday, according to documents filed yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firing was "for cause," meaning it was for one of several possible offenses laid out in Hollis' employment contract. The possible offenses include misappropriation of funds, fraud, engaging in an activity that is harmful to the company or conviction of a crime, according to the contract. Company spokesman Scott Reiger and members of the Hollis-Eden board would not say what Hollis is alleged to have done, when the action occurred or when it was discovered. The company did not issue a news release. Hollis, 56, could not be reached for comment. James M. Frincke, the company's chief operating officer, was appointed interim chief executive, according to the SEC filing. Hollis formed the company to capitalize on therapies that are based on a synthetic analogue of the adrenal hormone HDEA, which works to strengthen the body's immune system and prevent inflammation. The company plans to use this approach to tackle diseases including diabetes and cancer. But it was its decision after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to develop a treatment for acute radiation sickness that thrust the company and its founder into the spotlight. Hollis testified before Congress, was featured on "60 Minutes" and was often an outspoken critic of Project Bioshield, the federal government's $5.6 billion plan to foster treatments that would be used in response to pandemic or bioterrorism. However, some experts said that while the company's radiation drug, Neumune, was promising, Hollis-Eden had not done a primate study large enough to prove that it provides a statistically significant survival benefit. In March 2007, the government announced it would not be buying and stockpiling thousands of doses of Neumune. Without the government purchases of the drug, there would be no market for it. A month later, the company reorganized, getting rid of the department that had spent $90 million on Neumune. Last month, the company reorganized again, cutting an additional 20 jobs, or 33 percent of its work force, as well as freezing salaries and suspending bonuses as it deals with the economic downturn. At the time, the company said it had enough cash to sustain its current clinical development programs through 2010. Frincke, 58, has spent 24 years in biotechnology, joining Hollis-Eden as vice president for research and development in 1997. He has since been promoted several times and became chief operating officer in February 2008. The company's shares, which peaked at $33.25 in September 2003, closed down 2 cents yesterday at 48 cents. ------ Terri Somers: (619) 293-2028; [email protected] Terri Somers: (619) 293-2028; (Contact) To see more of the San Diego Union-Tribune or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.signonsandiego.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, The San Diego Union-Tribune Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |