As the world has battled the deadly coronavirus and financial markets have turned volatile, a small biopharma company, NanoViricides (NYSE:NNVC), began a media tour, claiming to be close to clinical trials for a treatment for COVID-19.
The media appearances and press releases started in late January, sometimes appearing to send the stock soaring.
Said Chairman Anil Diwan told Fox Business in January, "What we have built is actually a Venus flytrap for viruses."
When asked in the interview if that was reality, Diwan conceded it was not.
Nevertheless, five days later, on Jan. 28, Diwan was on Fox Business again with this promise of things to come: "In the best-case scenario, we are between four to six weeks away from having a candidate in hand."
Investors took note. The news sent NanoViricides’ stock briefly soaring from under $4 to nearly $17 per share. Those shares opened Tuesday morning lower by 76 cents, or 10.3% to $6.65.
NanoViricides is a 15-year-old drug development company based in Shelton, Connecticut, with a market cap of more than $77 million. It was added to the Russell Microcap index in late June.
However, in a stock prospectus filed July 9, the company revealed it has no revenue and has never done clinical trials.
The company released its latest quarterly report on June 22. NanoViricides said it had a net loss of $11.6 million for the nine-month period ended March 31. The company said it has $6.1 million in cash available.
