A drug company once led by Martin Shkreli is grappling in bankruptcy court with an international consortium that includes medical charities that bested it in a competition over U.S. rights to sell a treatment for a dangerous infection, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Humanigen Inc., the company, wants to use chapter 11 investigative powers to see whether it has some claim on benznidazole, a drug used for decades in Latin America to treat Chagas disease, a parasitic infection that can cause serious heart problems. Last year, crucial rights to bring the drug to the U.S. market were awarded, and Humanigen lost out, dealing a blow to its plans for post-bankruptcy success. Hopes of profits from its benznidazole assets propelled Humanigen, then called KaloBios, out of bankruptcy in 2016. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration awarded the coveted “golden ticket” priority review voucher for the drug to a rival coalition, which included Chemo Research S.L., Exeltis and the Mundo Sano Foundation, along with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative.
