SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Innovus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Innovus Pharma" or the “Company”) (OTCQB Venture Market: INNV), an emerging commercial-stage pharmaceutical company that delivers safe, innovative and effective over-the-counter medicine and consumer care products to improve men’s and women's health and respiratory diseases, announces that it was made aware of and requested by the OTC Markets Group Inc. to comment on recent market activity concerning shares of INNV common stock.
On January 24, 2018, the Company first became aware of certain promotional activities concerning Innovus Pharma and its common stock, including certain promotional newsletter emails, which were brought to the Company’s attention by OTC Markets. The promotional activities included projections, in addition to other promotional messages not authorized or approved by the Company. The Company understands this promotional activity coincided with higher than average trading volume and fluctuations in the Company’s stock price.
The Company contracted with Emerging Markets Consulting, LLC (“Emerging Markets Consulting”), a provider of investor relations and related services to the Company, on January 9, 2018, to disseminate actual news releases, its corporate fact sheet and publicly available information related to the Company’s business for the purposes of gaining additional exposure to potential investors interested in the over-the-counter medical and consumer care business. Any information regarding the Company disseminated by Emerging Markets Consulting was already in the public domain. The Company had no control over the content of the materials created and disseminated by Emerging Markets Consulting. Management believes that the activities of Emerging Markets Consulting had little or minimal effect on the trading activity of the Company’s common stock, which may have been impacted by recently disseminated public news releases, including the clearance of its UTI test strips by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the approval of its hemorrhoid drug Xyralid® by Health Canada, the launch of various products across its Amazon®, eBay®, Walmart® and Wish™ online stores, and the commercial license and distribution agreements signed with Lavasta Pharma and Acerus Pharmaceuticals for its products ProstaGorx® and UriVarx®, respectively.
In its investigation into this matter, the Company made inquiries of its executive officers, directors, controlling shareholders (i.e., shareholders owning 10% or more of the Company’s securities) and certain third-party service providers, including Emerging Markets Consulting. Although Emerging Markets Consulting paid certain newsletter publishers, neither the Company nor Emerging Markets Consulting have any control over the content of the materials created and disseminated by the newsletters, and such content, including any promotional statements contained in such newsletters, was not approved by Emerging Markets Consulting, the Company, nor its executive officers or directors. To the Company’s knowledge, neither its controlling shareholders nor third-party service providers, including Emerging Markets Consulting, were involved with the creation or distribution of promotional materials including these email newsletters.
Within the last 90 days, two of the Company’s executive officers and directors purchased shares of the Company’s common stock on the open market, which were purchased in November 2017 and were included in Form 4s previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, Emerging Markets Consulting sold shares of common stock in December 2017, prior to the commencement of its investor relations campaign. To the knowledge of the Company, no other officers or directors, or any controlling shareholders or any other third-party service providers, sold or purchased shares of common stock of the Company during the past 90 days. Further, the Company has not, other than disclosed in its periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, issued any shares or convertible instruments allowing conversion to equity securities at prices constituting a discount to the current market rate at the time of the issuance.
The Company is not affiliated in any way with the authors of the promotional newsletter emails identified by OTC Markets. Any claims or statements made in the promotional materials as supplied to the Company by OTC Markets not disseminated from the Company’s news releases, corporate fact sheet or publicly available information may be considered materially false and/or misleading and were made unbeknownst to the Company. The Company encourages those interested in the Company to rely solely on information included in its press releases combined with its filings and disclosures made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
About Innovus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Headquartered in San Diego, Innovus Pharma is an emerging OTC consumer goods and specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the commercialization, licensing and development of safe and effective non-prescription medicine and consumer care products to improve men’s and women’s health and vitality and respiratory diseases. Innovus Pharma delivers innovative and uniquely presented and packaged health solutions through its (a) OTC medicines and consumer and health products, which we market directly, (b) commercial partners to primary care physicians, urologists, gynecologists and therapists, and (c) directly to consumers through our on-line channels, retailers and wholesalers. The Company is dedicated to being a leader in developing and marketing new OTC and branded Abbreviated New Drug Application (“ANDA”) products. The Company is actively pursuing opportunities where existing prescription drugs have recently, or are expected to, change from prescription (or Rx) to OTC.
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