Mark Joseph Ahn, a biotech consultant who advised on Cambridge gene therapy firm Dimension Therapeutics’ potential acquisition in 2017 has pleaded guilty to charges of insider trading. He was charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Complaints charged Ahn used information he gained while working as a consultant for New York-based Abeona Therapeutics to bring in nearly $49,000 in profits by buying and selling Dimension shares.
Abeona was one of several pharmaceutical companies that planned to offer to purchase Dimension’s outstanding stock above market value, Ahn allegedly learned through his consulting role. He went on to buy nearly $39,000 of Dimension stock during that summer, prosecutors say. In late August, Dimension announced it would be purchased by Maryland company Regenxbio in an all-stock agreement that valued the company at $86 million. (That agreement was later terminated, and Dimension was instead bought by Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical for about $151 million.)After the Regenxbio announcement, Dimension’s stock price more than doubled, and Ahn allegedly sold his shares.
Ahn pleaded guilty to two counts of securities fraud on Tuesday. He faces up to 25 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. He is expected to be sentenced in U.S. District Court in June.
JEFFREY NEWMAN REPRESENTS WHISTLEBLOWERS INCLUDING SEC WHISTLEBLOWERS THAT REPORT INSIDER TRADING INCLUDING FRONT RUNNING. HE CAN BE REACHED AT 617-823-3217
