Yeah but look at this gem: " Zinc Researcher Profited After Study Boosted Quigley"
[note that Dr. Macknin the subject of Mr. Evans interview re QGLY is a collegue of Dr Mossads who co-wrote the QGLY w/ him back then at the Cleveland
Clinic Foundation in 1996!, this is getting really funny]
Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- A Cleveland
Clinic Foundation researcher bought 9,000 shares of Quigley Corp.
stock before publishing his study showing its zinc lozenges are
effective in treating the common cold, he said in an interview.
Dr. Michael Macknin's study, published in July in the Annals
of Internal Medicine, prompted a spectacular increase in Quigley
shares. They soared from a low of 5/16 in April to a high of 18
1/2 on Jan. 9.
Quigley shares fell 1 1/2 to 10 on trading on 775,400
shares.
Macknin sold the shares after the study was published,
making about $145,000 in profits on the trades, which were made
on his own behalf and for his two children. He still holds
additional Quigley stock with paper profits of about $185,000.
``If he personally benefits from the fact that the drug
works because he has stock in the company, what's wrong with
that?'' asked Dr. John Clough, chairman of the Division of Health
Affairs at the Cleveland Clinic. Clough said Macknin informed
both the clinic and the journal of his financial interest. The
article didn't disclose it, however.
``I think it raises a question as to how independent he is
acting as a scientist, when he stands to profit from his stock,''
said Roberta Karmel, a professor at Brooklyn College Law School
and a former commissioner of the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
The $35,000 study on the effectiveness of Quigley's zinc
lozenges was funded by the clinic. Macknin is now conducting a
second study at the clinic to see if Quigley's products help
children with colds. The new study is being funded with $60,000
received from Quigley. Both studies were double-blinded, meaning
neither researchers nor patients knew who received placebos or
the zinc lozenges.
``There's no way that his interest in the company could have
any affect on the results of either study, because of the
blinding,'' said Clough.
Macknin said he purchased 9,000 Quigley shares two yearsago, shortly after viewing ``unblinded'' data from his study that
was favorable for Quigley's product.
``I was given the option at that time to purchase some stock
shares in a company which, surprisingly to me, might have had a
treatment that could possibly be effective in treating the common
cold,'' said Macknin.
He bought 4,000 shares of Quigley in Dec. 1994 from the
company for 1 1/4, and sold them about six months ago for 3
3/4, he said, for a profit of $10,000.
Macknin said he paid $1 a share for an additional 5,000
shares bought for his children in a private placement on Jan. 23,
1995. He sold that stock, amounting to 10,000 shares after a
recent two-for-one stock split, on Jan. 24 at 14, for a profit of
$135,000.
In March, before the results of the first study were
published, Quigley gave Macknin an option to buy 10,000
restricted shares at $1. At that time, the stock was trading for
$1.39, said Clough.
``The company offered them to me. I did not question their
motivation in offering me the (option) at that time,'' said
Macknin. He exercised the option in December, giving him 20,000
shares at a cost of 50 cents a share. His paper profit on those
shares, which he still holds, is about $185,000.
``The Quigley Corporation believes Dr. Macknin has acted in
an ethically proper manner,'' said Guy Quigley, president of
Quigley Corp. in a prepared statement.
Earlier today, asked why the company granted Macknin those
options, Quigley replied only with a question. ``Why wouldn't
it?'' he asked.
--David Evans in Los Angeles (310) 827-2348 with reporting by
Loren Steffy in Dallas through the New York newsroom (213) 318-
2300/jp
Story illustration: For a one-year chart showing stock
performance: QGLY US <Equity> GP D <GO>.
To hear interview with Cleveland Clinic's Dr. Macknin: QGLY
<Equity> CNAV
Company news: Regional news: Industry news:QGLY US <Equity> CN NI PA Pennsylvania NI DRG Drugs
BQ, COMP, RV, CH1 NI TX Texas
ERN, TRA NI OH Ohio Category news:
WNI US, RXR US NI FDA Food & Drug Admn
KM US <Equity> CN
-0- (BBN) Jan/30/97 17:46 |
