by William Skink

Do not question the local loyalty of biotech start-up, Inimmune. The president and CEO of Inimmune, Jay Evans, wants you to know he COULD have gone out of state to raise millions from deep-pocketed investors, but instead found those deep pockets right here in Montana:

Inimmune Corporation, founded by four pharmaceutical experts and a team of researchers in Missoula in 2016, said the Series A round of funding was led by Two Bear Capital.

“We could have looked outside of Montana for investors but were happy to find a local venture capital firm that connected with our vision to grow a world-class biotech company right here in Montana,” said Dr. Jay Evans, the president and CEO at Inimmune. “The company plans to use the Series A investment to advance at least two late-stage pre-clinical drug candidates in oncology and allergy through Phase I human clinical trials.”

Inimmune is nationally recognized for its treatments that leverage the immune system, including its development of novel adjuvants, or compounds added to therapies that improve or direct an immune response.

I added the emphasis because the sentiment behind the creepy phrase leverage the immune system speaks to a much larger problem with our arrogant, technocratic scientist-priests who hoover up millions and millions to replace natural things–like our immune system and breast milk–with their Frankenstein versions, like Biomilq.

The Missoula Current article that announced this round of funding for Inimmune mentions Two Bear Capital, but Kidston’s curiosity stops there.

Two Bear Capital is run by Mike Goguen, a very deep-pocketed individual who defended himself against these salacious allegations (case later dropped by the judge), and more recently had local problems in Whitefish, resulting in a lawsuit filed by Whitefish’s Police Chief.

Before getting to the lawsuit by the Whitefish Police Chief, here is a quote about this “Montanan” from the Techcrunch piece:

Goguen, who sold an $11 million home in Atherton, Calif., in 2017, has spent much of his time in recent years at another home in Whitefish, Mont., where he has seemingly been wooing locals.

An August story about Goguen in The Missoulian about a separate case describes him as “known locally for philanthropic ventures.”

I guess the wooing of the Police Chief didn’t work:

A lawsuit in which the chief of the Whitefish Police Department makes accusations about a wealthy venture capitalist whose philanthropy has spanned the Flathead Valley is raising more questions than it answers, particularly now that the defendant, Michael Goguen, has disavowed the complaint and is setting forth his own version of circumstances accusing the police chief of malicious wrongdoing.

Whitefish Police Chief Bill Dial filed the civil suit Dec. 16 against Goguen, accusing the high-profile community member of attempting to influence a criminal investigation involving Goguen by currying favor with the detective leading the inquiry. Goguen’s alleged efforts to influence the investigation, Dial asserts, included befriending the lead detective and inviting him on an “all-expense paid elk hunt in Colorado with a private jet, lodging, meals and guides.”

“All this was done while the criminal investigation was supposed to be ongoing,” Dial’s complaint filed in Flathead County District Court states.

“Goguen’s conduct was intended to and, in fact, did influence the criminal investigation,” the complaint continues. “It caused the lead detective to fail in his duties and responsibilities to the Whitefish Police Department to fairly and neutrally investigate the case. Goguen’s conduct caused the lead detective to fail to open any report, fail to properly investigate the matter, turn a blind eye to potential crimes, and fail to document multiple communications he had with Goguen related to the investigation, notwithstanding direct orders from his supervisor to do such things.”

Jay Evans, along with the Missoula Current, are selling us a bullshit story depicting wealthy assholes like Mike Goguen as benevolent local investors when that is SIMPLY NOT TRUE, unless you count property ownership as the only relevant metric in defining one’s local status.

While many non-investor-type people are stuck in a crippling, anxiety-induced fight-or-flight reaction to the uncertainty of the pandemic, power players like Mike Goguen are making moves that will ensure they thrive and profit while the consequences of their greed are displaced onto those least prepared to deal with it.

I am not ok with this.

Are you?