A US government agency has paused its loan to the photography firm Eastman Kodak to boost domestic pharmaceutical production, NPR reports.
At the end of July, Kodak won a $765 million loan from the US International Development Finance Corporation under the Defense Production Act, as the Wall Street Journal reported. It adds this was part of a bid by the Trump Administration to strengthen domestic supply chains in response to the coronavirus pandemic. "It's a breakthrough in bringing pharmaceutical manufacturing back to the United States," President Donald Trump said, according to the Journal.
However, NPR reports that the trading of a high number of Kodak shares the day before the announcement raised eyebrows at the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is investigating the matter. These allegations, Reuters notes, include one involving stock options to Jim Continenza, the executive chairman of Eastman Kodak. Additionally, the Journal reports lawmakers have also raised questions about how Kodak announced the deal and the company's switch from manufacturing chemicals for photography to ones for pharmaceuticals.
Fox Business adds that Kodak is conducting its own internal investigation.