NEW YORK, Feb. 18, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Murray, Frank & Sailer LLP announces that it has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on behalf of purchasers of the securities of EPIX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (f/k/a EPIX Medical, Inc.) ("EPIX" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:EPIX) between July 10, 2003 and January 14, 2005, inclusive (the "Class Period").
The complaint charges EPIX, Michael D. Webb, Peyton J. Marshall and Andrew Uprichard with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. More specifically, the Complaint alleges that the Company failed to disclose and misrepresented the following material adverse facts which were known to defendants or recklessly disregarded by them: (1) that non-contrast MRA comparator scans used in the Phase III trials varied significantly which caused the efficacy of MS-325 to be compromised; (2) that the Company's Phase III trials generated a large number of uninterpretable images, which too caused the efficacy of MS-325 to be compromised; (3) that problems described above resulted in varying and questionable statical treatments of the images seen during the Phase III trial; and (4) that as result of the above, the likelihood of MS-325's NDA being approved was highly unlikely.
On January 14, 2005, EPIX announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") had completed its review of the new drug application for MS-325 (gadofosveset trisodium), and found it to be approvable. However, in the approvable letter, the FDA requested additional clinical studies to demonstrate efficacy prior to approval. News of this shocked the market. Shares of EPIX fell $3.98 per share or 27.17 percent, to close at $10.67 per share, on unusually high trading volume.
Murray, Frank & Sailer LLP and its predecessor firms have devoted its practice to shareholder class actions and complex commercial litigation for more than thirty years and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for shareholders in class actions throughout the United States.
If you purchased or otherwise acquired EPIX securities between July 10, 2003 and January 14, 2005, and sustained damages, you may, no later than March 28, 2005, move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff. Shareholders outside the United States may also join the action, regardless of which exchange was used to purchase the securities. To serve as lead plaintiff, however, you must meet certain legal requirements. You can join this class action as lead plaintiff online at http://www.murrayfrank.com/CM/NewCases/NewCases.asp. If you would like to discuss this action, this announcement, or your rights and interests, please contact plaintiff's counsel Eric J. Belfi or Aaron D. Patton of Murray, Frank & Sailer LLP.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca