How global warming could help martin shkreli's old company stay out of bankruptcy

After years of work on monoclonal antibodies, KaloBios Pharmaceuticals announced last fall it was winding down operations. A white knight came in the unlikely form of Martin Shkreli, who

took over the company with a $3.2 million investment and stepped up as its CEO — until he was arrested on securities fraud charges. The company looked again on the verge of insolvency. It’s

managed to right its course a bit, however, announcing last week that it has emerged from bankruptcy and raised new funding. STAT chatted with new CEO Dr. Cameron Durrant, who joined

KaloBios in March (with a salary of $50,000 per month): ON TOP OF DEVELOPING MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES, YOU’RE NOW PURSUING A DRUG THAT TREATS CHAGAS DISEASE. IS IT BECAUSE FEARS OF GLOBAL

WARMING ARE LEADING TO THE PROSPECT OF A RISE IN THIS TROPICAL DISEASE? Benznidazole is considered the gold standard treatment for Chagas disease, which was added to the FDA list of

neglected diseases in August last year. But the drug’s only available on a spotty basis from the CDC. The majority of the disease pops up among people who have migrated from Latin America,

but there’s growing evidence that there are some de novo cases of Chagas in the US now and we expect there will be more. The initial discussions to acquire the drug were between Savant

Neglected Diseases and Martin Shkreli in December. STAT+ Exclusive Story Already have an account? Log in THIS ARTICLE IS EXCLUSIVE TO STAT+ SUBSCRIBERS UNLOCK THIS ARTICLE — PLUS IN-DEPTH

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