Advanced ImmunoTherapeutics to Go Public With Americus Funding Merger
Advanced ImmunoTherapeutics Inc., founded by the controversial former head of Newport Pharmaceuticals Inc., will go public, the company’s president said last week.
AIT President Alvin Glasky said the Irvine company plans to merge with publicly traded Americus Funding Corp., a blind-pool partnership in Colorado. Glasky expects the merger to be complete within a month.
A blind pool is an entity that raises money from investors for the purposes of acquiring other firms, which are not identified until after the money is raised.
Glasky, who founded Irvine-based AIT last year, was removed from his position at Newport Pharmaceuticals in 1986, shortly after the company was criticized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for promoting a drug without federal approval.
Glasky founded Newport Pharmaceuticals in 1986. The firm unsuccessfully sought U.S. approval of the drug Isoprinosine as a treatment for diseases ranging from AIDS to a rare brain disorder. The drug has still not been approved for use in the United States.
AIT currently is developing drugs that it claims could modify the body’s immune system and be used to treat cancer, AIDS or Alzheimer’s disease.
Glasky said the company, which has not yet produced any revenue, lost about $600,000 last year, adding that it will have a similar loss this year.
Being publicly held will provide AIT with money to develop its drugs, he explained.
Glasky and other AIT investors will own 88% of the firm, with Americus shareholders getting the rest, he said. Americus went public in November, issuing 50 million shares at a penny per share. Glasky said the stock recently has sold for 1 3/4 cents to 2 1/2 cents per share in over-the-counter “pink sheet” trading.
A stock market analyst said that Glasky likely will be greeted with skepticism by investors, who could have concerns about how Glasky and his company will be viewed by the FDA.
Glasky acknowledged that he is a controversial figure but said he doesn’t expect a cool reception from Wall Street investors, some of whom became angered by fluctuations in the value of Newport Pharmaceuticals stock during Glasky’s management of that firm.
Regardless of management, AIT may not receive much attention from investors, who have grown weary of the proliferation of small, upstart biotechnology firms, according to Jeff Kilpatrick, president of Newport Securities, a Costa Mesa brokerage.
“The promises of almost all of those companies have not come true,” said Kilpatrick, who does not recommend investment in the company.
Wespercorp is a company without a stock exchange.
On Friday, the Irvine firm was dropped from the American Stock Exchange because it no longer meets the financial standards required for listing.
George Dashiell, chairman and president of the firm, said he had received “verbal approval” for a listing on the Boston Stock Exchange. But he hadn’t yet received the go-ahead from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is required before Wespercorp can resume trading on an exchange.
The computer-equipment manufacturer was dropped by the American exchange because it failed to have the necessary market capitalization and shareholder equity.
“We needed an aggregate value of $1 million of publicly held stock,” Dashiell said. “Ours is worth $218,000.”
The American exchange also requires at least $4 million of shareholder equity, while Wespercorp has a negative shareholder equity of $895,000, Dashiell said.
Wynn’s International in Fullerton said that New York money manager Mario J. Gabelli purchased 38,100 shares of stock in May and June, boosting his stake in the Fullerton firm to 19.24%, or 729,250 shares.
Gregg Gibbons, vice president and counsel for the automotive parts and additives manufacturer, said that Gabelli is interested in Wynn’s only as an investment.
Provena Foods said it will repurchase up to 50,000 shares of its common stock issued during its August, 1987, public offering. The Santa Ana company already had announced its intention to buy 70,000 shares.
“The stock from time to time trades at prices we perceive as less than reasonable value,” said Jim Bolton, Provena’s chairman. He said the purchases were also part of an effort to reduce any dilution that shareholders may experience as stock is purchased by employees through a company program.
Provena is a specialty food processor and distributor that caters to pizza and pasta companies.
