The main problem here is not the pile of convertible debt held by the insiders. It's the lack of sales.
This is still a developmental biotech, not a blue chipper trading on NASDAQ. That means any course of action has to benefit the company first and shareholders second. "How is that good for the stockholders" doesn't apply here.
I'm sure that Whelan and Staelin and the other Whelans will convert and dump after the R/S we all know is coming, but that won't bring any new money into the company. They need funding and they need a new business plan. The primary reason for doing a R/S won't be to enrich the insiders -- it will be to fund the company so they can change course and implement a new business plan.
That's the optimistic viewpoint. I'm not going to express the negative viewpoint. We all know what THAT is.
Can this company pull it off? Possibly, but unlikely, because IMO management is ignorant, inexperienced, and lacking in vision and ambition. They don't HAVE a new business plan, IMO, and they're unlikely to find one.
Prove me wrong, Whelan.