SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 04, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, a national investor-rights law firm, alerts Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) investors there is a March 14, 2016 lead plaintiff deadline in the securities fraud class action lawsuit filed against the Company related to the delayed approval of Esperion’s leading cholesterol drug.
If you suffered losses because of your purchases of Esperion securities between August 18, 2015 and September 28, 2015, contact Hagens Berman Partner Reed Kathrein, who is leading the firm’s investigation by calling 510-725-3000, emailing ESPR@hbsslaw.com or visiting https://www.hbsslaw.com/cases/ESPR. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and investors have until March 14, 2016 to move the court to participate as a lead plaintiff.
Esperion Therapeutics is a pharmaceutical company focused on developing drugs to lower LDL cholesterol. According to the complaint, by early August 2015, Esperion completed Phase 2b clinical trials for its leading product candidate, ETC-1002, and was meeting with the FDA to discuss moving forward with the Phase 3 segment of the approval process. On August 17, 2015, Esperion relayed to investors material events from its meeting with the FDA, and stated that the FDA informed the company that it would not have to complete rigorous cardiovascular trials in order to gain approval of ETC-1002. Esperion further stated that the company was pleased with the outcome of the meeting and that the FDA gave it a “clear regulatory path forward for development and approval of ETC-1002.”
Then on September 28, 2015, Esperion reversed course about the FDA meeting, stating that the FDA had actually encouraged the company to initiate a cardiovascular trial and it may be necessary to complete these trials before ETC-1002 would be approved. On this news, Esperion stock fell by $16.76 per share, or nearly 50%, to close at $18.33 per share on September 29, 2015. The share price has continued to fall and currently trades below $15.00. The complaint alleges Esperion misled investors when they made statements about the FDA meeting that they reversed in later announcements.
Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Esperion should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new SEC whistleblower program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at (510) 725-3000 or email ESPR@hbsslaw.com.
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