Vermillion files for bankruptcy; execs quit to save cash
Vermillion, the biotech company formerly known as Ciphergen Biosystems, filed for bankruptcy protection Monday after losing four of the directors on its board the week before, when it also received the the asked-for resignations of its CEO, interim chief financial officer, and vice president in charge of business development.
None of the director resignations were “the result of any disagreement” with the company, and the senior executives quit “for the sole reason of conserving Company resources”, according to the filing announcing the news.
We first wrote about Vermillion in September 2007 when we noted that Phronesis Partners, an Ohio-based hedge fund that takes its name from a Greek term used by the philosopher Aristotle to denote “practical wisdom,” or “prudence,” disclosed that it was Vermillion’s largest shareholder then the largest owner of of a company that has yet to show a profit and has accumulated losses to the tune of $218 million since its founding in 1993.
