Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Biopure files defamation lawsuit over Hemopure product

By Mass High Tech Staff

Biopure Corp. has filed a lawsuit against Charles Natanson, who co-authored an article about Hemopure, alleging trade libel, defamation and intential interference with prospective business advantage.

Filed in the U.S. District Court, District of Columbia on October 10, the lawsuit alleges Natanson’s actions of co-authoring an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association and writing letters to regulatory authorities caused injury to Biopure (Nasdaq: BPUR).

Natanson works as senior investigator and head of anesthesia at the Critical Care Medicine Department at Clinical Center, of the National Institutes of Health. His article, posted online on April 28, was titled, “Cell-Free Hemoglobin-Based Blood Substitutes and Risk of Myocardial Infarction and Death.” According to Biopure officials, the article cites Biopure’s Hemopure, a synthetic blood product.

The lawsuit follows a tumultuous few years of legal and financial battles for the Cambridge biotech firm.

In August, the fifth civil lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission against former Biopure executives was settled in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts. The SEC had accused the executives of misleading its investors in 2003 about the regulatory status of its Hemopure.

Today, Biopure also announced an extension from the Nasdaq Stock Market until March 16, 2009, to regain compliance with minimum bid rules. The company’s original extension deadline of December 8, 2008, was pushed back because of “turmoil in the marketplace,” Biopure officials report.