BALA CYNWYD, Pa., April 15, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The following statement was issued today by the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP:
Notice is hereby given that a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on behalf of all purchasers of the common stock of Pharmacia Corporation ("Pharmacia" or the "Company") (NYSE:PHA) from April 17, 2000 through August 22, 2001, inclusive (the "Class Period").
If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP (Marc A. Topaz, Esq. or Stuart L. Berman, Esq.) toll free at 1-888-299-7706 or 1-610-667-7706, or via e-mail at info@sbclasslaw.com.
The complaint charges Pharmacia Corporation and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. Specifically, the complaint alleges that Pharmacia marketed Celebrex as a new type of drug that, unlike aspirin or ibuprofen, retarded pain and inflammation without the adverse side effects of ulcers or gastrointestinal bleeding.
During the Class Period, Pharmacia and its partner Pfizer, who funded the study, trumpeted the results of the "Celecoxib Long-term Arthritis Safety Study" (the "CLASS" study) -- a clinical study to compare the gastrointestinal problems of patients who used Celebrex to those of patients who used other Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs ("NSAIDs") -- which found that Celebrex caused fewer gastrointestinal problems than traditional drugs, such as ibuprofen.
Given all the hype surrounding the CLASS study, the Journal of the American Medical Association ("JAMA") published a study by the Company that showed that Celebrex caused fewer gastrointestinal problems than traditional drugs. Unbeknownst, however, to JAMA, the study was flawed because the Company manipulated the results in such a way to show that Celebrex was safer for the stomach and digestive tract than conventional drugs by not including in the final analysis all of the data collected through the entire duration of the study, which concluded opposite to the Company's findings. During the Class Period, the Company failed to make adequate disclosures concerning this study and used this fallacious study in their continuing efforts to have the Food and Drug Administration remove the warning label from Celebrex. During the Class Period, the Company continued to misrepresent that Celebrex was just as likely to cause ulcers like older, cheaper medicines until an August 22, 2001 report in The Wall Street Journal shed light on the Company's fallacious misrepresentations.
On August 22, 2001, The Wall Street Journal ("The Journal") reported that reviews, conducted by researchers from the Cleveland Clinic, of clinical trials for the arthritis drug Celebrex indicated that the medication might carry an increased risk for cardiovascular events. They concluded that heart-attack rates with Celebrex were high enough to be a concern. The researchers concluded: "Given the remarkable exposure and popularity of this new class of medications, we believe that it is mandatory to conduct a trial specifically assessing cardiovascular risk and benefit of these agents. Until then, we urge caution in prescribing these agents to patients at risk for cardiovascular morbidity." Study author Dr. Eric Topol commented in the article that the results are a "cautionary flag that seems to say something is going on that needs further exploration." On this news, Pharmacia's stock dropped below $40 per share.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of class members and is represented by the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, which prosecutes class actions in both state and federal courts throughout the country. Schiffrin & Barroway is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered in excess of a billion dollars on behalf of institutional and high net worth individual investors. For more information about Schiffrin & Barroway, or to sign up to participate in this action online, please visit http://www.sbclasslaw.com/currentcases.cfm.
If you are a member of the class described above, you may, not later than June 10, 2003, move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff of the class, if you so choose. In order to serve as lead plaintiff, however, you must meet certain legal requirements.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.