Updated at 9:45 a.m. on Aug. 9 with a statement from Conaway's office.

WASHINGTON — Two Texas Republicans are among the lawmakers who invested in an obscure Australian pharmaceutical company at the center of insider trading charges leveled Wednesday against Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y.

Collins' trades in Innate Immunotherapeutics were already the subject of a House ethics probe. Reps. John Culberson of Houston and Mike Conaway of Midland had also bought shares in the firm, though they apparently didn't use off-limits information to form their trading decisions — unlike Collins' son, whose well-timed sale is at the heart of the insider trading case.

The Justice Department indictment released Wednesday alleges that while Collins served on the board of the company, he passed inside information to his son after the company's main drug failed a trial. The Justice Department claims the trades allowed Collins' son, his son's future father-in-law and six other investors the two of them tipped off to avoid around $768,000 in losses.

Collins was the biggest investor in the company, which was developing a drug to treat multiple sclerosis, and he reportedly was pitching it as a good investment to friends and House colleagues. If the Texans or other lawmakers invested based on non-public information, that would violate restrictions Congress imposed on itself in the Stock Act.

The indictment charges Collins, his son Cameron Collins and Stephen Zarsky, the father of Cameron Collins' fiancee, with securities fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy and making false statements.

A former House member from Georgia, Tom Price, was criticized during his confirmation hearing to serve as President Donald Trump's first Health and Human Services secretary, for his purchases of the stock. Price, who has since resigned that post, and Collins purchased nearly $1 million total in discounted stock in the company.

Culberson's stock purchase in Innate is uncharacteristic, as he is not an active stock trader.

"One of my father's best friends died of MS, and we have a family friend with multiple sclerosis, so I'm always on the lookout for breakthroughs on treating MS. This one looks promising. I rarely buy or sell stock," he told the Houston Chronicle in May 2017.

Culberson said in July 2017 that his purchase of $13,982 in shares on Jan. 26, 2017 was prompted by a New York Times article from two weeks earlier, and subsequent "online research."

But the Times piece Culberson cited didn't exactly inspire confidence. It called Innate "a tiny pharmaceutical company from Australia that has no approved drugs" that had "run out of money and nearly closed its doors." The article noted purchases by Collins, Price, and former New York Rep. Bill Paxon, saying Democrats criticized Price's purchases for potentially crossing "ethical lines."

Culberson has not released further statements since the Collins indictments were made public.

Conaway bought between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of Innate shares the same day as Culberson. That was a few days after senators questioned Price about his investment in Innate during his confirmation hearing.

Investigators with the Office of Congressional Ethics interviewed Collins about Innate on June 5, 2017. Culberson sold his stocks seven days later, taking a $9,194 loss. He said he decided to sell in order to cut his losses.

A Justice Department statement on the indictment said Collins found out about Innate's failed drug trial on June 22, 2017.

That was after Culberson sold his shares.

According to federal authorities, Collins was at a congressional picnic at the White House when he learned of Innate's setback, by email from the CEO. He quickly called his son and tipped him off. Over the next two trading days, a Friday and Monday, Cameron Collins sold nearly 1.4 million shares, avoiding losses of $571,000 when news of the failed drug trial became public after the markets closed that Monday — four days after his father tipped him off.

VIDEO: Rep. Chris Collins speaking on his phone at last summer's White House Congressional Picnic. The photo was taken at approximately 7:17 p.m. According to the indictment, Collins called his son Cameron at 7:16 p.m. (VIDEO: CBS) pic.twitter.com/EvSzrHTkY4 — News 4, WIVB-TV (@news4buffalo) August 8, 2018

Conaway bought two batches of Innate stock, each worth $1,000 to $15,000, on Jan. 26 and Feb. 3, 2017. A Conaway aide said he sold all his Innate shares for a loss on Nov. 20, 2017. At the time, the stock was worth 2 Australian cents per share.

"Mr. Conaway initially invested in Innate Immunotheraputics because it was a promising breakthrough to treat Multiple Sclerosis [MS], which impacts a close friend of his," Conaway spokeswoman Emily Hytha said in a statement. "Strict ethics laws and reporting requirements regulate investments made by members of Congress, which Mr. Conaway follows without exception."

On Wednesday, Innate's price was 30 Australian cents per share. It was roughly AU$14.80 when the Texans first bought it — about $10.56 in U.S. currency.

Culberson is in the midst of a heated re-election bid against Democrat Lizzie Pannill Fletcher. One of her rivals in the Democratic primary had attacked him over his Innate investment.

"If Congressman Culberson used his position of power, along with access to material nonpublic information, in an effort to benefit himself personally, then Congressman Culberson will have confirmed he is exactly what is wrong with Washington," Fletcher said in a statement.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the party's House campaign arm, called Culberson's trades "shady backroom dealings" on Wednesday.

"Their actions clearly require close scrutiny and their voters deserve answers," the statement said.

No allegations of misconduct have been leveled against either Culberson or Conaway, a former chairman of the House Ethics Committee.

Collins was an early Trump supporter and one of the president's liaisons in Congress.