SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman urges Precigen, Inc. (NASDAQ: PGEN) (f/k/a Intrexon) investors with significant losses to submit your losses now.

Relevant Period: Before Sept. 25, 2020
Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/PGEN
Contact An Attorney Now: PGEN@hbsslaw.com
                                             844-916-0895

Precigen, Inc. (PGEN) Investigation:

The investigation centers on the propriety of Precigen’s claims about its methane bioconversion (“MCB”) program.

The MCB program was designed to use relatively low-cost natural gas as the feedstock for the conversion of methane into higher value chemicals. At the center of the program were methanotrophs, naturally occurring organisms that consume and metabolize methane, the main component of natural gas, as their energy source. The company intended to genetically engineer the methanotrophs to produce high value chemicals on a commercial scale through a fermentation process using natural gas as the feedstock – something that had never been done before.

The company repeatedly touted its success converting relatively inexpensive national gas into more expensive industrial chemicals using the MCB program.

On Apr. 21, 2016, Spotlight Research published a scathing report presenting the case that the company is a fraud, drawing parallels to Theranos. This news sent the price of the company’s shares tumbling lower.

On May 3, 2016, Motley Fool published a report after reviewing Spotlight Research’s 90 page report concluding, in part, “I cannot point to a single in-house developed technical advantage that [the company] has over any of its competitors,” and “[n]or can anyone in the engineered biology field because, simply put, one doesn’t exist.”

On May 11, 2020, Precigen disclosed the SEC served a subpoena on the company regarding its MCB program disclosures.

Finally, on Sept. 25, 2020, the SEC issued a cease and desist order against the company, finding that the company violated the federal securities laws. The SEC found the company was primarily using more expensive pure methane for the relevant laboratory experiments while telling investors that the results were achieved using natural gas.

“We’re focused on investors’ losses and determining whether Precigen and senior executives intentionally promoted fake technology,” said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.

If you are an Interface investor and have significant losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firm’s investigation, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman.

Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Precigen should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email PGEN@hbsslaw.com.

About Hagens Berman
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Contact:
Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895