aibioEmmaus appoints Henry Du to its board and audit committee
Henry H. Du, a certified public accountant and interim chief financial officer of Alpha Cognition, fills the board seat left by the resignation of Jon Kuwahara.
Key facts
- Companies
- Emmaus Life Sciences, Inc. (OTC: EMMA), Alpha Cognition Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOG)
- News type
- Company Updates
- Primary source
- Emmaus Life Sciences Form 8-K
Emmaus Life Sciences, Inc. appointed Henry H. Du to its board of directors by written consent on April 16, 2026. Mr. Du fills the vacancy created by the recent resignation of Jon Kuwahara. The company also expects Mr. Du to replace Mr. Kuwahara as the sole member of the audit committee. The Form 8-K was signed on April 17, 2026, by Willis Lee, chairman and chief executive officer.
The board appointment
Mr. Du is 48 years old. He has served as vice president of finance and accounting and interim chief financial officer of Alpha Cognition, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOG), a Grapevine, Texas company developing novel therapeutics for debilitating neurodegenerative disorders, since October 2024. Before that, he held senior finance and accounting positions at a number of life sciences and other companies. He is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a bachelor of arts degree from Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California.
The filing says there are no family relationships between Mr. Du and any other director, executive officer or nominee. It also says he is expected to be paid for his service in the same way as the company's other directors, and that he is not party to any transaction that requires disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.
Mr. Kuwahara's resignation is the only change described in the filing. The 8-K does not give a reason for it. The audit committee has a single member, and the filing does not say whether the company plans to add others.
The company and its product
Emmaus describes itself as a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on rare and orphan diseases. Its only product is Endari (L-glutamine oral powder). The FDA approved Endari to reduce the acute complications of sickle cell disease in adult and pediatric patients five years of age and older. The product is also approved in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, and an application for marketing authorization in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is pending.
In the United States, Endari is sold through nonexclusive distributors. In the Middle East and North Africa, it is sold through exclusive arrangements with local distributors. The company also has market exclusivity in Saudi Arabia through that country's unified purchasing system, which was granted in January 2025.
In December 2025, Emmaus signed a license and exclusive distribution agreement with NeoImmuneTech, Inc. Subject to an effective date, NeoImmuneTech would receive an exclusive license to market, sell and distribute Endari and any generic equivalents in sickle cell disease in the United States, its territories and possessions, and Canada. Emmaus would receive an upfront cash payment and a double-digit percentage royalty on NeoImmuneTech's sales of the licensed products.
Financial position
SEC XBRL data drawn from the company's 10-K filed on March 31, 2026, show revenue of $12.5 million for 2025, compared with $16.7 million for 2024. Research and development expense was $313,000 in 2025 and $657,000 in 2024. The company reported a net loss of $7.5 million for 2025, compared with $6.5 million for 2024.
Cash used in operations was $11,000 in 2025, compared with $2.3 million in 2024. Year-end cash and cash equivalents were $1.4 million at the end of 2024, and the sources available at the announcement date give no year-end 2025 cash balance. Revenue fell while the net loss grew, and the company depends on a single product, Endari.
The 10-K's forward-looking statements refer to the company's recent change in strategy for commercializing Endari in the United States. The 8-K itself does not describe any change to the company's business or plans.