Jury: Hemispherx lawsuit concerning private stock sale has no merit

Broker MidSouth Capital had sought $6 million in commissions via suit

By Devika Patel

Knoxville, Tenn., March 10 - Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. said a federal jury in has determined there was no merit to brokerage firm MidSouth Capital, Inc.'s claim that Hemispherx owed the firm over $6 million for commissions from 2009 private sales of stock.

The company said that MidSouth sued Hemispherx in 2010 for commissions the broker claimed were due under a 2008 contract, which Hemispherx says it never signed.

Investment bank Rodman & Renshaw subsequently sold more than $31 million of Hemispherx stock in 2009. Rodman & Renshaw was paid the commission it was owed for these sales.

MidSouth, whose brokers were terminated after several failed convertible debenture offerings, also demanded payment of a commission on the Rodman & Renshaw stock sale.

"The verdict confirms that the company should not have been put through the distraction and expense of this meritless lawsuit," Hemispherx general counsel and trial counsel Thomas K. Equels said in a press release.

"The company must defend itself vigorously against any case where the plaintiff seeks over $6 million in damages for work it did not perform.

"Moreover, because the contract had not been signed by either party, and because Hemispherx sent a contemporaneous letter specifically disagreeing with the terms of the proposed unsigned contract, it was found to be unenforceable by the jury. Furthermore, as to the equitable claims, the overwhelming evidence that Rodman & Renshaw was the sole procuring cause for the May 2009 transactions compelled a jury finding in Hemispherx' favor," Equels added.

Philadelphia-based Hemispherx develops drugs to treat debilitating disorders, like viral diseases and immune-system disorders.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.