The principal investigator of a clinical trial evaluating a drug is facing insider-trading charges, reports Pharmalot's Ed Silverman.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that, in two separate incidents, Edward Kosinski from St. Vincent's Medical Center in Connecticut sold shares of Regado Biosciences based on information he learned as PI, Silverman says.
In particular, the lawsuit says Kosinski sold all 40,000 of his Regado shares after being notified that that some patients in the trial, which was examining a clotting drug, experienced allergic reactions and says he later profited by betting Regado shares would drop in price after he'd learned the trial would be halted due to a patient's death. The suit also says Kosinski didn't disclose that he held Regado shares when he agreed to become the trial PI. Kosinski declined to comment to Silverman about the case.
Silverman notes that there have been other similar instances of alleged insider trading. For instance, a Food and Drug Administration official pleaded guilty this spring to providing a hedge fund with information about generic drugs that were about to be approved and an Oppenheimer & Co investment adviser pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and other charges after trading on information learned from a friend who worked at Pfizer, he adds.