Aladar A. Szalay, Ph.D., envisioned bringing a cancer treatment to market after leading a Loma Linda University research team in discovering that tumors in mice split up and emitted more light when injected with light-emitting viruses. Dr. Szalay, his boss the dean of the university’s School of Medicine, and a friend agreed to commercialize the potential treatment by establishing Genelux in 2001.
In the years that followed, disputes among the founders over the issuing of stock and Dr. Szalay’s management culminated last year in a board of directors vote to remove Dr. Szalay as Genelux’ chairman, CEO, president, and CSO, and invalidate half of his founder’s shares—depriving him of his ability to elect two people to the board.
