Connetics fires employee accused of insider trading as SEC investigation continues

By Lisa Kerner

Erie, Pa., April 7 - Connetics Corp. said it has terminated vice president Alexander J. Yaroshinsky, the employee who is the subject of a civil lawsuit alleging insider trading from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Connetics is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Yaroshinsky, after learning in a phone call to the Food and Drug Administration that the agency considered Connetics' acne drug unsafe to use, allegedly positioned himself to profit from a fall in the price of Connetics' stock, according to the SEC. Once the FDA non-approval was made public last June, Yaroshinsky profited by about $680,000, the SEC said.

Additionally, the SEC is conducting a formal investigation regarding whether Connetics or its employees, officers, directors, or others related to the company, may have violated federal securities laws, the company said Friday.

Connetics added that it intends to cooperate fully with the SEC.

Connetics is a Palo Alto, Calif.-based specialty pharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes dermatology products.

© 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.