NEW YORK, May 11, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The following statement was issued today by Squitieri & Fearon, LLP.
You are hereby notified that a Class Action has been filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on behalf of purchasers of Genta Inc. (Nasdaq:GNTA) ("Genta" or the "Company") securities during the period September 10, 2003 through May 3, 2004 (the "Class Period").
If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interest, please contact plaintiff's counsel, Stephen J. Fearon, Jr. of Squitieri & Fearon, LLP at (212) 575-2092, Stephen@sfclasslaw.com.
The Complaint charges Genta and certain of its officers and directors with violating the federal securities laws by issuing materially false and misleading statements that inflated the price of the Company's securities. During the Class Period, defendants misrepresented the safety of the Company's drug, Genasense, for advanced melanoma. Defendants falsely represented to the investing public that Genasense did not appear to be associated with serious adverse reactions in the Phase 3 clinical trial. In fact, defendants knew that the use of Genasense was associated with increased toxicity and discontinuation due to adverse events and that FDA approval of the Genasense NDA was unlikely because the increased toxicity and adverse events associated with the use of Genasense outweighed its marginal benefits.
On April 20, 2004, the staff of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) of the FDA stated that the Phase 3 clinical trial of Genasense failed to demonstrate a survival benefit and the staff also stated: "Survival was not improved and toxicity was increased."
As a result of this announcement, the price of Genta shares dropped $5.83 or 40.4% to close at $8.60 on the NASDAQ market on unusually high volume of over 30 million shares traded.
On May 3, 2004, the ODAC ruled by a 13-3 vote that the evidence presented did not provide substantial evidence of effectiveness to outweigh the increased toxicity of Genasense. In response to this announcement, the price of Genta shares fell more than $3 per share, to close at $5.11 on May 3, 2004 at a high volume of over 17 million shares traded.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of himself and all purchasers of Genta's securities during the Class Period. Excluded from the Class are the defendants and members of their immediate families, any entity in which a defendant has a controlling interest and the heirs of any such excluded party.
Plaintiff is represented by the law firm of Squitieri & Fearon, LLP which has significant experience prosecuting class actions on behalf of investors and shareholders.
If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interest, please contact plaintiff's counsel, Stephen J. Fearon, Jr. of Squitieri & Fearon, LLP at (212) 575-2092, Stephen@sfclasslaw.com.
If you are a member of the class described above, you may, not later than 60 days from May 16, 2004, move the court to serve as lead plaintiff of the Class, if you so choose.