Email Fraud Alert received from: Jordan
I recently received an email with this subject line: Here We Go… and I am concerned that it could be an attempt at defrauding me. Let me know in the comments section what you think, please.
The full contents of the suspected fraudulent (phishing / scamming) e-mail appear below:
Today I wanted to highlight a company that went public via IPO. The company is Akebia Therapeutics (AKBA).
From their prospectus:
“We are a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel proprietary therapeutics based on HIF biology and the commercialization of these products for patients with kidney disease. HIF is the primary regulator of the production of RBCs in the body and a potentially novel mechanism of treating anemia.
Our lead product candidate, AKB-6548, is being developed as a once-daily oral therapy that has successfully completed a Phase 2a proof of concept study demonstrating that AKB-6548 safely and predictably raised hemoglobin levels in patients with anemia secondary to CKD not requiring dialysis. We are conducting a Phase 2b trial for AKB-6548 in patients with anemia secondary to CKD who are not dependent on dialysis and expect data to be available in the fourth quarter of 2014. We have also initiated a development program for patients dependent on dialysis.
We own worldwide rights to our HIF-based product candidates, including AKB-6548. If approved by regulatory authorities, we plan to commercialize AKB-6548 in the United States ourselves and intend to seek one or more collaborators to commercialize the product candidate in additional markets.”
Anemia is a serious medical condition in which blood is deficient in RBCs and hemoglobin, both of which are critical in delivering oxygen to tissue. Anemia generally exists when hemoglobin, a protein in RBCs that carries oxygen, is less than 13 g/dL in men or 12 g/dL in women. Untreated anemia is associated with chronic fatigue, increased risk of progression of multiple diseases and death. Anemia is common in patients with CKD, cancer, heart failure, inflammatory diseases and other critical illnesses, as well as in the elderly.
More than 30 million people in the United States have CKD, with estimates that over 1.8 million of these patients suffer from anemia. Anemia from these indications is currently treated by injectable recombinant protein erythropoiesis stimulating agents, or rESAs—including Epogen, Aranesp and Procrit—with iron supplementation or an RBC transfusion. Based on the reported revenues of companies that market and sell rESAs, it’s estimated that global sales of injectable rESAs were $6.3 billion in 2012, the vast majority of which were for renal indications.
Something important worth noting is their use of proceeds statement. This is a very telling statement and shows not only the seriousness of the company but shows they are dedicated to r&d. “We own worldwide rights to our HIF-based product candidates, including AKB-6548. If approved by regulatory authorities, we plan to commercialize AKB-6548 in the United States ourselves and intend to seek one or more collaborators to commercialize the product candidate”
Something worth noting is the company’s use of proceeds statements… it’s a very telling statement that shows they are dedicated to R&D. It is as follows:
“We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering to continue clinical development of AKB-6548 in patients with anemia secondary to CKD, including the preparation for and initiation of the Phase 3 trials; to conduct a Phase 2 clinical trial of AKB-6548 in idiopathic anemia of aging; to advance our preclinical candidate, AKB-6899, through Phase 1 development in oncology; and for working capital and other general corporate purposes.”
The use of proceeds is an important indicator of how they plan to spend their money, and a statement like above really helps increase the confidence in investors that the company is spending their profits wisely. Meaning they’re thinking for the long-term.
AKBA closed last week at just over $18, which was the high end of their proposed range. Additionally, they added another million shares to the float to meet demand.
So far, demand has been strong, with a high point of $27.25, which is almost 60% higher than their offering price – a good sign of things to come. I think that this company should continue to climb and within a couple months be trading around $35-40.
The above email was sent by “Caesar’s Financial Daily” from this email address: Newsletters@caesarsfinancial.com
I, Jordan, have the following thoughts/comments on this suspected fraudulent email message from “Caesar’s Financial Daily”:
Oh no you don’t – I watched the Wolf of Wall Street and this is so like the scams run by Jordan Belfort and his gang of thieves.