NERA Economic Consulting recently published their annual report examining trends in securities class action litigation in 2021. Although the report found that filings in 2021 decreased overall, the proportion of claims targeting life science firms increased for the second year in a row, following a spike in suits connected to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Continue Reading Annual Securities Class Action Report Shows Life Sciences Firms Remain a Top Target for Claims
Second Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Action Regarding Clinical Trial Of Macular Degeneration Treatment
George Lehmann, Insured Benefit Plans, Inc. v. Ohr Pharmaceutical, Inc., 2020 WL 5988517 (2nd Cir. Oct. 9, 2020)
On October 9, 2020, the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an action brought against Ohr Pharmaceutical, Inc. and certain of its executives. Plaintiffs alleged that the defendants made misleading statements concerning the efficacy of Ohr’s core product, a Squalamine-based treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration (WetAMD), a condition that can cause vision loss.
The complaint pleaded that in January 2018, Ohr announced the results of a phase III clinical trial of its WetAMD treatment, that the results of this trial showed that the treatment arm actually performed worse than the control arm, and that the Company’s stock price fell by over 80% as a result.
S.D.N.Y. Partially Dismisses Claims Against Pharmaceutical Company, But Allows Claim Regarding Misleading Statements About Upcoming NDA for Rare Tissue Disorder To Proceed
Skiadas v. Acer Therapeutics Inc., 2020 WL 3268495 (S.D.N.Y. June 16, 2020)
On June 16, 2020, Judge Gregory Woods of the Southern District of New York granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss an action against Acer Therapeutics Inc. and certain of its executives regarding disclosures made in offering documents prior to the Company’s submission of a New Drug Application (“NDA”) for EDSIVO, a drug that treats Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (“vEDS”). Plaintiff allege that when the FDA declined to approve the drug, Acer’s stock dropped.
S.D.N.Y. Dismisses Action due to Plaintiffs’ Failure to Link Occurrences of Serious Adverse Events to Liver Disease Drug
Hou Liu v. Intercept Pharm., Inc., 2020 WL 1489831 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 26, 2020)
On March 26, 2020, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Southern District of New York granted a motion to dismiss an action against Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and certain of its executives regarding twenty-one statements made about safety, dosing, and effects of Ocaliva, a drug approved to treat patients with primary biliary cholangitis (“PBC”), a rare liver disease. The complaint alleged that Intercept’s stock dropped after it issued a Dear Healthcare Provider Letter (the “HCP Letter”) and again after the FDA issued a drug safety communication and a corresponding safety alert on Ocaliva.