BALA CYNWYD, Pa.,, June 2, 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 Southern District of New York on behalf of all purchasers of the common stock of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Regeneron" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:REGN) from March 28, 2000 through March 30, 2003, 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 alleges that defendants violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, by issuing a series of material misrepresentations to the market between March 28, 2000 and March 30, 2003, thereby artificially inflating the price of Regeneron securities.
The Complaint alleges that defendants issued a series of materially false and misleading statements concerning the Company's weight loss drug AXOKINE and its effectiveness in treating obese patients. In particular, the Complaint alleges that defendants' statements were materially false and misleading because defendants failed to disclose and misrepresented: 1) that the Company knew that AXOKINE had immunogenicty problems such that patients developed antibodies to AXOKINE after continued use; (2) that the Company knew of this fact and manipulated its clinical results to portray that AXOKINE did not cause significant amounts of clinical patients rejecting the drug; (3) that the Company's account of AXOKINE published in PNAS failed to provide an accurate portrayal of the effects of the drug; (4) that the Company sought to suppress the immunogenicty problems that were associated with it by developing a pegylated version of AXOKINE; (5) that the Company knew that AXOKINE's effect on clinical patients were similar to the effects of prescription obesity drugs that were already on the market; and (6) that the overall magnitude of the weight loss from AXOKINE was small; a fact that was manipulated by defendants in its published clinical results.
On March 31, 2003, Regeneron admitted AXOKINE lost effectiveness in about 70% of patients in a study. News of the Company's announcement shocked the markets. On March 31, 2003, Regeneron's stock fell from $17.31 per share to $7.52 per share, on unusually high trading volume. However, even defendants' admission was false, as, in fact, defendants manipulated the results of the study. In truth, 73.5% of the patients developed antibodies to the drug.
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/cgi/signup.cgi.
If you are a member of the class described above, you may, not later than July 1, 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