Dive Brief:
- Contract research organization (CRO) Parexel filed a form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this week, but not the one investors were expecting.
- On the eve of filing its annual report with the SEC, Parexel instead filed another form noting its 10-K form would be late due to "an incident of misappropriation."
- Parexel now expects to file its annual report "as soon as reasonably practicable" and currently expects it will be within the 15-day extension period the SEC allows.
Dive Insight:
Parexel, which is hired by major pharma companies to conduct clinical trials, said in the filing with the SEC an incident was reported to the company on August 29 indicating an employee in the international offices had stolen corporate funds.
The CRO was light on the details, but noted that it "does not believe the amount of funds misappropriated to be material," the filing said.
Although Parexel is looking into the incident, the company could not give assurances about the severity of the situation until its review is complete.
The unfortunate news comes about a month after the company's chief financial officer left unexpectedly.