New York ? ImClone Systems Inc. founder and former chief executive Samuel Waksal pleaded innocent to insider trading and other charges Monday and defended his company and its cancer drug.

The plea was entered in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where Waksal had been indicted on charges of inside trading and perjury. New charges of obstruction of justice and bank fraud were filed last week, requiring the new arraignment.

If convicted, he could face 30 years in prison on the bank fraud count alone.

Prosecutors had sought unsuccessfully to arrange a plea deal with Waksal. Such a deal would have required him to reveal, in exchange for leniency, whether he provided insider trading tips to relatives and friends, including decorating maven Martha Stewart.

Outside court, Waksal said the case had been “extremely challenging and emotionally draining for me, my family and my friends.”

“ImClone itself is a strong, solid company whose scientists and other employees have devoted themselves to achieving a noble goal,” he said.

Waksal said he still believed that his company’s highly touted cancer drug, Erbitux, has the potential to help cancer patients.