Tuesday, September 13, 2022

We Are Wrestling With A Dilemma... Dr. Thomas Koestler, Versus Fourth Estate Rights...


[The rather oblique tangent here harkens back to old Schering-Plough, and when Dr. Koestler was leaving as Chief Science Officer, under Fast Fred Hassan. He is owed around $6 million, all in, from Martin Shkreli -- as we've long explained. So these are new matters, now.]

And. . . it all may mean that I'll need to go get a pro hac vice admission in Manhattan, to intervene for the sole purpose of unsealing a plainly newsworthy federal judicial document. Dust off that old file. . . heh.

We shall see.

Perhaps the New York Times, or the NY Post will step up.

It seems that the Receiver, Mr. Abbott, has concerns about the issues arising as the team tries to negotiate a sale or liquidation of what was once Martin's 38% of the company called Phoenixus AG, a Swiss holdco, through which Vyera Pharmaceuticals (US) is controlled.

And he has filed these concerns under seal to protect Dr. Koestler's ultimate selling price -- and a more fulsome recovery on a 2015 era judgment debt owed by Martin. So far, so good.

I do support seeing Dr. Koestler being made whole, but since this will involve the private sale of investment securities (ordinary and preferred shares) under the US federal securities laws, the would be purchaser(s). . . are entitled to full and fair disclosures here.

And it would seem that whatever it is, if it is being filed under seal. . . it might be material. Given that it promises to end Shkreli's saga as to these Daraprim selling companies. . . it is plainly newsworthy.

That it may cost Dr. Koestler some of the cash he might otherwise get. . . is in fact. . . exactly what the federal securities laws are designed to achieve -- since the crash of 1929.

Don't let buyers get fleeced. To be clear, this is not Martin trying to queer a sale; and this all implies only the very best of good faith, and honest intentions of the Receiver, his counsel... and Dr. Koestler and his counsel. It is just. . . a sticky. . . wicket, in the law.

So -- for now (whilst I noodle on all of this; deciding whether to fly out to NYC next week), I won't post the full letter explaining all this, as filed this morning in 16-cv-7175 in Manhattan.

Let's see what the New York area press does, here. It plainly has standing to intervene, as well.

Onward, smiling. . . ever smiling. As exactly a decade ago, was the first live lunch, then on the following Monday, a start at a new shop and a posed "first day" pic -- after the launch of an iPhone 4. . . now a. . . 14 Pro. Wild.

Oh. . . and Martin's ankle monitor comes off tomorrow, if all goes well. But he still has three years of close check-ins / supervision at BoP to complete.

नमस्ते

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