SerpApi.Org
One of Rhode Island's most-wanted fugitives was captured Monday after apparently hiding out for 21 years under a pseudonym as a biotech executive.
The straight-out-of-a-telenovela situation saw 70-year-old Ronald Fischer arrested by federal and Rhode Island authorities last week. Law enforcement tracked and boarded his 56-foot sailboat, The Silver Lining, off the coast of New Jersey. Fischer, an anesthesiologist, was convicted in absentia of first-degree sexual assault in 2005. He failed to appear in court and has been on the run for the past 21 years.
The boat was registered under the name Richard Graydon, an alias used by Fischer, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Rhode Island. Until July 17, Graydon was the name of the chief medical officer at Immix BiopharmaIMMX. Graydon was fired for a "reason unrelated to his activities at the company," Immix said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday.
Immix stock tumbled 14.2%, closing at 8.80. But the shares rose than 8% Tuesday morning.
Richard Graydon's Career
It appears Graydon had a long, fruitful career in biopharma. Before Immix, he worked for Atossa TherapeuticsATOS as its interim chief medical officer. The company said in an email to Investor's Business Daily that Graydon was an independent contractor, not an employee from Oct. 24, 2022, to Nov. 4, 2022.
According to an Atossa news release, he also worked at Johnson & JohnsonJNJ and Daiichi Sankyo in prior years. In an email, a J&J spokesperson told IBD that, "This individual was never a Johnson & Johnson employee."
But, according to the Atossa release, available via Nasdaq.com but not on Atossa's own website, Graydon had his hands involved in the development of drugs that became Darzalex, Imbruvica, Sylvant and Vanflyta. Darzalex and Imbruvica are massive blockbuster successes in cancer treatment.
Fischer, also known as Graydon, is being held by the U.S. Marshals and local law enforcement.
Representatives of Immix and Daiichi didn't return requests for comment from IBD.
Poorly Rated Biotech Stocks
Immix and Atossa are relatively small biotech stocks, both trading in the dollar-stock range. The duo have market caps north of $626 million and almost $25 million, respectively.
Immix stock has a middling IBD DigitalRelative Strength Rating of 74, putting its 12-month performance below the top quarter of all stocks. Atossa, on the other hand, has a poor RS Rating of 2 out of a best-possible 99. The best-trading biotech stocks tend to have RS Ratings of at least 80 before big runs.
Similarly, the two have Composite Ratings of 34 and 10, respectively. This puts their fundamental and technical performance in the lower half of all stocks, regardless industry group. The strongest stocks have Composite Ratings of at least 95.
Immix stock is trading in line with its 50-day moving average, while Atossa is solidly below all its key lines.
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