KBIO Profile
KaloBios
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (KBIO) was a publicly traded biopharmaceutical
company headquartered in Brisbane, California. It was founded in 2000
by Dr. David Pritchard, a former executive at Genentech, and focused
on developing treatments for cancer and other diseases.
KBIO's
most notable drug was benznidazole, an antiparasitic medication used
to treat Chagas disease. In 2014, KBIO received fast track designation
from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the drug, which
allowed for expedited review and approval.
However, the company
faced financial difficulties and was delisted from the Nasdaq in
December 2015 due to non-compliance with listing rules. In the same
month, KBIO announced that it had filed for bankruptcy and planned to
sell off its assets.
In an unusual turn of events,
controversial entrepreneur Martin Shkreli bought a majority stake in
KBIO in November 2015 after the company's shares had dropped sharply.
Shkreli had gained notoriety for his role in increasing the price of
Daraprim, a drug used to treat toxoplasmosis, from $13.50 to $750 per
pill as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals.
After buying the KBIO
shares, Shkreli attempted to take control of the company's board and
increase the price of benznidazole from $50 to $60,000 per treatment
course. However, his actions were met with significant public backlash
and he was subsequently arrested and charged with securities fraud in
December 2015.
Following Shkreli's arrest, KBIO's assets were
sold to PDL BioPharma for $22 million. The company's operations were
subsequently discontinued and it no longer exists as a publicly traded
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