According to ESPN, two Favre-backed drug companies overstated their benefits and NFL connections and then exaggerated the known effectiveness of their drugs during efforts to raise money.
Once again, Favre is at the forefront of this.
Here are the details;
As well, court filings show the companies and their founder, Jake VanLandingham, faced substantial debts over the past several years, even as VanLandingham was pressing potential investors to help get his drugs to market.
Two of VanLandingham’s Florida-based companies — Prevacus and PresolMD — are alleged to have received more than $2.1 million in Mississippi funds that were earmarked for welfare families, according to a civil lawsuit filed by the state.
VanLandingham told ESPN in an interview, “I had no idea this was welfare money, and I’ve always been an upstanding person when it comes to research.” Favre declined to comment.
Favre, according to the lawsuit, is the top outside investor in Prevacus, and the Hall of Fame quarterback has said he put $1 million of his own money into the companies, which are developing a nasal spray to treat concussions and a cream to prevent or limit them.
Six people were arrested and charged in 2020 as part of what the state called a “multimillion-dollar embezzlement scheme.” They included Mississippi’s welfare director and the head of a nonprofit, both of whom have entered guilty pleas.
Neither Favre nor VanLandingham was charged, but they are among 38 individuals and companies named earlier this year in the civil lawsuit, which seeks the return of more than $20 million that had been designated for needy families.
The two men waged a marketing campaign to encourage investors to back VanLandingham’s companies — a campaign that ultimately led Favre to tap some of his connections in his home state.
The lawsuit alleges some of the funds were funneled through the Mississippi Community Education Center, a nonprofit run by Nancy New. New pleaded guilty in April to bribery of a public official, fraud against the government, wire fraud and racketeering. The civil lawsuit alleges a “sham” agreement was crafted for the financial benefit of several defendants, including New, Favre, VanLandingham and his two drug companies.
A 2019 marketing document used to raise money for Prevacus and PresolMD boasts several connections to the NFL. Dr. Allen Sills, the league’s chief medical officer, and Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president for health & safety innovation, are among those identified as “other contacts” on a list of “Key Advisory Members and Associates” to Prevacus. The marketing document also listed Dr. Brian Hainline, the NCAA’s chief medical officer, among “other contacts.”
An NFL spokesperson wrote in an email, “The league office was contacted by this organization but provided no funding or any resources in support of its efforts.” The spokesperson added that neither Miller nor Sills was an advisory member or associate for Prevacus, and the league was unaware of any teams using samples of PresolMD’s cream.
An NCAA spokesperson told ESPN that neither Hainline nor the NCAA has any connections with Prevacus or VanLandingham. “[Hainline] never had any advisory role or association with the company. And he never agreed to be listed on any marketing materials,” the spokesperson said.
VanLandingham said Favre had connected him with Sills and Miller to discuss the concussion drugs, but he said the document wasn’t intended to suggest Prevacus was working with the NFL or the NCAA, simply that the company had contacted the people and organizations.
VanLandingham said Favre had made connections with some team doctors and trainers, and “I think we did send out samples to different groups.” VanLandingham said he didn’t remember which teams were contacted nor did he know whether the samples had been used. He also said he couldn’t recall what the reference to “NFL Affiliate Groups” was about.
(The 2019 document also names 15 sports figures among its key advisers; one of those is ESPN NFL reporter Ed Werder, who was not employed by the network at the time.)
The marketing document, first obtained by the Clarion Ledger of Mississippi, says PresolMD is seeking $2 million in capital and claims the “Pre-Market Valuation” of the company is $20 million.
The document also says PresolMD has cultivated relationships with “100 NFL Retired Players,” and, in a 2020 podcast, VanLandingham says the company has had the “support” of the NFL Players Association during clinical trials. According to court documents, VanLandingham wrote in a text to another person who would later plead guilty in the Mississippi fraud case that “we partnered with the NFLPA for the clinical trials. No side effects.”
A spokesperson for the NFLPA said “there is no affiliation with that company or person,” adding, “If this person is representing that they have our support, that’s false.”
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