PHILADELPHIA, June 2, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The law firm of Berger & Montague, P.C. (http://www.bergermontague.com) has filed a class action suit against Allos Therapeutics, Inc. ("Allos" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:ALTH) and certain of its officers, in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased Allos securities from April 23, 2003 through April 29, 2004 (the "Class Period").
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 the SEC by issuing materially false and misleading statements throughout the Class Period that had the effect of artificially inflating the market price of the Company's securities.
The statements made by the defendants were materially false and misleading because the actual results concerning their Phase III Efaproxiral breast cancer subset were insufficient to support the positive conclusions made by defendants due to numerous flaws in the study. When making the statements, defendants failed to disclose and misrepresented the following adverse facts: (a) the Company's positive statements regarding its RSR13 New Drug Application and the results for the breast cancer subset in its first Phase III trial were misleading because the test subjects were not a representative set but rather a skewed subset of the patients, designed to produce false glowing results; (b) the purported results for the breast cancer subset patients in the first Phase III trial were not representative because the patients in the treatment group were afflicted less severely than the control group as a whole, thus skewing the results in favor of the treatment group; (c) the results of the study could not be used to support the positive conclusions made by defendants regarding the breast cancer subset because the study was not defined to specifically test the breast cancer subset; (d) the Company had used an unusually low number of patients in the treatment group and thus could not support its statistical projections; (e) the study was "open label," meaning that both patients and researchers knew they were receiving the treatment. As a result of the foregoing, defendants lacked a reasonable basis for their positive statements about the Company and its earnings projections.
On April 30, 2004 and May 3, 2004, it was announced by the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee ("ODAC") of the FDA that it concluded by a 16-1 vote to recommend that the FDA not approve Efaproxiral. In recommending rejection of Efaproxiral, the ODAC found that, "the evidence of drug efficacy needs to be much stronger to be convincing." As a result of this announcement, the price of Allos shares fell $2.09, or 45% to close at $2.55 on extraordinary volume.
If you purchased Allos securities during the period from April 23, 2003 through April 29, 2004, inclusive, you may, no later than July 19, 2004, move to be appointed as a Lead Plaintiff. A Lead Plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. If you have sustained substantial losses in Allos securities during the Class Period, please contact Berger & Montague, P.C. for a more thorough explanation of the Lead Plaintiff selection process.
About Berger & Montague, P.C.
The law firm of Berger & Montague, P.C. has over 50 attorneys, all of whom represent plaintiffs in complex litigation. The Berger firm has extensive experience representing plaintiffs in class action securities litigation and has played lead roles in major cases over the past 25 years which have resulted in recoveries of several billion dollars to investors. The firm has represented investors as lead counsel in actions against companies including Rite Aid, Sotheby's, Waste Management, Inc., Sunbeam, Boston Chicken and IKON Office Solutions, Inc. The standing of Berger & Montague, P.C. in successfully conducting major securities and antitrust litigation has been recognized by numerous courts. For example:
"Class counsel did a remarkable job in representing the class interests." In Re: IKON Offices Solutions Securities Litigation. Civil Action No. 98-4286(E.D. Pa.) (partial settlement for $111 million approved May, 2000). "...(Y)ou have acted the way lawyers at their best ought to act. And I have had a lot of cases...in 15 years now as a judge and I cannot recall a significant case where I felt people were better represented than they are here ... I would say this has been the best representation that I have seen." In Re: Waste Management, Inc. Securities Litigation, Civil Action No. 97-C 7709 (N.D. Ill.) (settled in 1999 for $220 million).
If you purchased Allos securities during the Class Period, please visit our website at: (www.bergermontague.com) to view the complaint and join the class action or if you have any questions concerning this notice or your rights with respect to this matter, please contact: