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Galena, ImmunoCellular Caught Up In US SEC Clampdown On Fraudulent Stock Promotions

 
• By Brenda Sandburg

Four biopharma firms allegedly paid writers to post positive articles about their stocks that were merely "paid advertisements"; in settlement, former CEOs of Galena and ImmunoCellular barred from being officer or director for five years and ordered to pay $1.3m and $2.9m, respectively.

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The former CEOs of Galena Biopharma Inc. and ImmunoCellular Therapeutics Ltd. received the harshest penalties in Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement actions against four biopharma companies for fraudulently promoting their stocks. They agreed to settlements that bar them from serving as an officer or director of any entity that has registered securities for five years.

In addition, Galena's former CEO Mark Ahn must pay a disgorgement of $677,250 plus prejudgment interest of $67,181 and a civil penalty of $600,000 for a total of $1.3m. And...

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