BioPulse Replaces CEO; Doctor Denies Joining Board
quote.bloomberg.com
San Diego, Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- BioPulse International Inc., which operated a controversial
cancer clinic in Tijuana, Mexico, replaced its chief executive after cancer researcher Howard Soule
denied joining the company's board of directors.
Jonathan Neville, the company's chief executive and co- founder, will be replaced by board
member Reid Jilek, the company said in a release distributed by the PR Newswire. Jilek, founder of
Asia Pacific Alliance Co., a pharmaceutical development concern, holds degrees including a Ph.D.
in pathology, the company said.
BioPulse announced in a press release issued Feb. 6 that Soule had been appointed to its board of
directors.
``I am NOT on their board,'' said Soule, in an exchange of e- mail messages over the weekend with
Bloomberg News. ``I repeat, I was never on their board.''
He remains chief scientist of CaPCure, the prostate cancer research foundation founded by financier
Michael Milken in 1993. A spokesman for CaPCure said Soul said he met just once with BioPulse
representatives and then ``declined to pursue any affiliation.''
BioPulse's unorthodox cancer treatments, which include inducing daily comas in patients and
injecting them with vaccines made from their own urine, were halted Thursday by Mexican health
authorities.
Yesterday, Neville declined to answer a reporter's questions about Soule's denial. Neville hung up
when asked about Soule in two separate telephone calls.
Busy Schedule
Today, BioPulse announced that Soule won't be serving on the board, blaming ``his extraordinary
business schedule.'' BioPulse said Neville, a lawyer with a degree in agricultural economics, will
remain with the company, helping to develop new drugs and tests. Soule's position on the board will
be filled by John Allen, the company said. It didn't otherwise identify Allen.
The company wasn't available for comment.
Another medical professional on BioPulse's board, co-founder Robert Morrow, a physician,
resigned last month, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Stephen Fey, chairman of the board and a third director, F. Briton McConkie, quit BioPulse's
board earlier this month, according to the filing.
Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission is investigating BioPulse's cancer Treatment claims,
according to a filing it made with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week.
On Jan. 17, Bloomberg News reported that some U.S. cancer experts were concerned that
BioPulse's treatments, besides being ineffective, could harm patients. The clinic charges patients
$5,700 a week.
On Friday, the company's stock lost almost half its value after Bloomberg News reported that Baja
California state officials had shut BioPulse's cancer clinic because it was conducting illegal
experimental treatments on patients.
Today, the company said its Mexican clinic will offer non- experimental medical care to patients
while it attempts to obtain government permission to resume offering those experimental treatments.
BioPulse shares fell 31 cents to $2.63 in early afternoon trading. |
