Biotech mogul Sam Waksal of Martha Stewart fame accused of testing illegal ‘swine drug’ on child

A shocking lawsuit has been filed alleging that biotech mogul Sam Waksal, known for his involvement in the ImClone insider trading scandal with Martha Stewart, tested an illegal “swine drug” treatment on a child with epilepsy. The lawsuit claims that Waksal, who is not a medical doctor, imported the veterinary drug along with other unapproved ingredients from Colombia to treat a severely ill child whose mother worked for his company.

Waksal allegedly monitored the child’s response to the drug in an attempt to develop a similar product for his former company, Equilibre Biopharmaceuticals.

The dosing of the child with the illegal drug came to light when a whistleblower exposed the scheme in 2022, according to Neal Brickman, an attorney representing Equilibre. The whistleblower also accused Waksal of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment.

Waksal, who is now 77, gained notoriety in 2001 when he sold off his ImClone shares after learning that the FDA would not approve the company’s cancer drug. He served five years in prison for securities fraud while Martha Stewart served five months for lying about her ImClone shares.

According to the lawsuit, Waksal stopped treating the child when the company found out about the illegal dosing, not because of any improvement or deterioration in the child’s health.

Waksal is also accused of impeding the investigation by placing the child’s mother on administrative leave to prevent her from speaking to investigators. Another witness was allegedly offered $100,000 to influence her participation in the investigation.

The allegations led to an investigation by two outside law firms, resulting in Waksal’s forced resignation as chairman and CEO of Equilibre in 2022. Equilibre informed the FDA about the incident.

The lawsuit names Waksal, three Equilibre directors, and another biotech firm owned by Waksal, Graviton, as defendants. The board members are described as complicit in the scheme, with one director even giving the drug concoction to his ill dog, which died the next day.

After Waksal’s removal from Equilibre, he allegedly began to sabotage the company by steering investors to Graviton and transferring Equilibre’s assets to his other company.

Equilibre filed for bankruptcy protection in 2023, and a US trustee representing the company’s creditors filed the lawsuit seeking at least $150 million.

A spokesperson for Graviton denied the allegations, stating that the company is engaged in groundbreaking scientific work that could significantly improve the lives of patients with various diseases.

Graviton received an investment from Sanofi last year, which had previously acquired another company founded by Waksal for $2 billion in 2021.