The investigation regards whether Aytu and its officers and directors have violated the federal securities laws.
Aytu BioSciences (AYTU) Announces License Agreement For COVID-19 Test
On March 10, 2020, Aytu BioSciences, a Colorado-based publicly-traded specialty pharmaceutical company, announced that it had reached a license agreement for the exclusive distribution of a Chinese-made test for COVID-19 antibodies in the U.S. The license agreement was for three years, with automatic renewals after that, according to Aytu.
Aytu stated that the test was performed at the point-of-care, such as a doctor’s office, and involved a small drop of blood placed onto a disposable testing device that detected antibodies for COVID-19. Results were to be given within 2-10 minutes. Other coronavirus tests could take days to return results.
COVID-19 Antibody Test Alleged To Be Unreliable
Aytu’s announcement led to its stock price rising significantly. Then, on April 17, 2020, NBC News released a report with the headline “Unapproved Chinese coronavirus antibody tests being used in at least 2 states.” The article, which cited U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) filings and health officials, reported that Aytu was distributing unreliable COVID-19 tests from unapproved Chinese manufacturers.
The tests were allowed to be shipped to the U.S. following the FDA’s recently-relaxed guidelines for tests. The day the NBC News article came out, Aytu’s stock closed down 8%.
Initial Public Offering And Underwriters
In October, 2016, Aytu BioSciences announced the public offering of 5,735,000 shares of common stock, expected to net the company about $8 million. The lead manager for the offering was Fordham Financial Management, with Joseph Gunnar & Co. and Felt and Company acting as joint book-running managers.
In October, 2018, the company announced an underwritten public offering of 8,342,993 shares of its stock expected to raise $13.2 million. Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. was book-running manager for the offering, with Northland Capital Markets as co-manager.
Recovering Money Lost With Aytu BioSciences (AYTU) Stock
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