- Thinly traded nano cap Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology (HART +33.7%) is up on almost an 8x surge in volume, albeit on turnover of less than 1M shares, in response to the announcement that Karolinska Institute's inquiry into alleged misconduct by visiting professor Paolo Macchiarini cleared him of all charges regarding his reporting of the status of three patients (two who died) who received a replacement trachea implanted by him. In May, an independent investigator accused Macchiarini of misrepresenting key aspects of papers describing the surgical procedures which misled readers into thinking the procedures were more successful than they actually were. Certain data in the papers could not be found in the medical records, for example.
- Krolinska's probe did identify "certain circumstances" where the surgeon's work did not meet the university's high quality standards in every respect. He may have to submit amendments on several publications as a result. Also, allegations that he failed to get proper consents from patients before the operations are still being investigated.
- Macchiarini's problems shut down the clinical development of regenerated replacement tracheas, which were supplied by HART.