Litigation Releases (CBA Pharma, Inc., Wayne Michael Putnam, Louis A. Carmichael)

CBA Pharma, Inc., Wayne Michael Putnam, Louis A. Carmichael

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 26479 / February 6, 2026

Securities and Exchange Commission v. CBA Pharma, Inc., et al.

, No. 26-cv-00042 (E.D. Ky. filed Feb. 5, 2026)

SEC Charges Kentucky-Based Biopharmaceutical Company and Two Executives with Defrauding Investors

On February 5, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against CBA Pharma, Inc., a private Kentucky-based biopharmaceutical company; Wayne Michael Putnam, its president; and Louis "Buzz" Carmichael, its vice president of capital markets, for allegedly conducting a fraudulent securities offering which raised approximately $4.1 million from approximately 160 investors.

The SEC's complaint alleges that from April 2023 to February 2024, CBA Pharma, through Putnam and Carmichael, misrepresented to investors that CBA Pharma's lone drug, CBT-1, was effective in treating cancer by preventing multidrug resistance to cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, and was in the final stages of obtaining approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration ("FDA"). According to the complaint, however, CBT-1 was never close to FDA approval, the FDA had informed the company that its drug application for CBT-1 lacked evidence of efficacy, and, by April 2023, the FDA told the company that it had withdrawn CBA Pharma's drug application for CBT-1.

The SEC's complaint, filed in the District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, charges CBA Pharma, Putnam, and Carmichael with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC seeks a permanent injunction, disgorgement, pre-judgment interest, and a civil penalty as to CBA Pharma and permanent injunctions, civil penalties, and bars from participating in any issuance, purchase, offer or sale of any security, except for certain transactions within personal accounts as to Putnam and Carmichael.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Tracy W. Lo and Nicholas Magena and was supervised by Steven L. Klawans of the SEC's Chicago Regional Office. The SEC's litigation will be led by Eric Phillips and Timothy Stockwell of the Chicago Regional Office.

The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Louisville Field Office and the FDA.