NEW YORK, March 27, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP has filed a class action lawsuit against Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. ("Orexigen" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:OREX) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of California, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons or entities who purchased Orexigen securities between March 3, 2015 and March 5, 2015, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This class action seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act").
If you are a shareholder who purchased Orexigen securities during the Class Period, you have until May 11, 2015 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll free, x237. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased.
Orexigen is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the development of pharmaceutical product candidates for the treatment of obesity.
The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements, and failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, prospects and performance. Specifically, during the Class Period, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) study results released by Orexigen, showing that its obesity drug Contrave reduced the risk of heart attacks and cardiovascular death, were unreliable and misleading; (ii) as such, Orexigen faced potential fines, civil penalties, and the possible removal of Contrave from the market; and (iii) as a result of the above, the Company's financial statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On March 3, 2015, the Company filed a Form 8-K with the SEC, announcing a patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In the patent application, the Company disclosed positive interim results of an ongoing clinical trial of its weight loss drug Contrave. As a result of this news, the Company's shares increased $1.85 or almost 32%, to close at $7.64 on March 3, 2015. The next day, shares rose $0.85 or over 11%, to close at $8.49 on March 4, 2015. The total increase over two days was $2.70, or over 46%. However, the interim data published by the Company was particularly unreliable, as noted in numerous articles published in the days after the patent application was filed.
Takeda, which has an agreement with Orexigen to market Contrave in the United States, released a statement on March 5, 2015, stating that it did not support the release of the interim data.
On the news, shares in Orexigen fell $0.48 or almost 6%, to close at $8.01 on March 5, 2015.
After the close of trading on March 5, 2015, in a report published on Forbes.com, a top FDA official criticized Orexigen and its decision to release interim trial data. In the report, Dr. John Jenkins, the FDA's director of the Office of New Drugs criticized the released data as "unreliable," "misleading," and "likely false." He also said that the results must be kept confidential to avoid compromising the trial's integrity so researchers can get a clear sense of any cardiovascular risk related to the drug.
On this news, shares in Orexigen fell as much as $1.25, or almost 16%, to as low as $6.76 in intraday trading on March 6, 2015.
The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and San Diego, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 70 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.