Sequencing technology firm Genapsys is considering bankruptcy amid an escalating power struggle between the firm's former CEO and cofounder and his successor, GenomeWeb.com reported. According to court documents obtained by GenomeWeb, Genapsys in May sought and received permission from the Delaware Court of Chancery to hire New York-based financial services firm Lazard "to explore both financing transactions and bankruptcy." This activity appears to be related to a "special finance and risk committee" created by the Genapsys board in March. This revelation comes from proceedings related to one of two lawsuits filed earlier this year by Genapsys Cofounder and former CEO Hesaam Esfandyarpour against the firm and current CEO Jason Myers, among others. Esfandyarpour, still on the Genapsys board, opposed the formation of the committee, just one in a series of actions that have pitted him against the company. In his second suit, filed in April, he demanded more visibility on the special committee's activities. As first reported by Law360, Esfandyarpour alleged that the committee is "acting in secret" and denying him access to information. The defendants, including Myers and other board members, have disputed the allegations that Esfandyarpour has not received information about the company's finances, Court Vice Chancellor Morgan Zurn said during a June 10 hearing, and they have claimed the ex-CEO is "adverse to the company's financing efforts and therefore can be excluded from the committee's work."
