Wechsler Harwood Halebian & Feffer LLP Announces Class Action Suit Against Biopure Corporation (NYSE: BPUR)
PRNewswire
NEW YORK
Feb 22, 2002
The law firm of Wechsler Harwood Halebian & Feffer LLP ("Wechsler Harwood") announces that a class action has been commenced on behalf of an institutional investor in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on behalf of purchasers of Biopure Corporation ("Biopure" or the "Company") (NYSE: BPUR) who publicly traded securities between May 8, 2001 and December 6, 2001, inclusive (the "Class Period").
The Complaint alleges that Biopure, a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of a new class of pharmaceuticals it calls "oxygen therapeutics," and the Company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by issuing materially false and misleading statements concerning trauma, ischemic, and the likely timing of the Company's filing with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") of its Biologic License Application ("BLA") to market Hemopure, the company's experimental blood substitute for patients undergoing elective surgery. In particular, defendants led investors to believe that the BLA was on track to be filed by year-end 2001.
As alleged in the Complaint, these statements were materially false and misleading because, by commencement of the Class Period, defendants knew or recklessly ignored the fact that the data collected from the Hemopure trial (which had been completed in August 2000) was significantly deficient and failed to demonstrate that the trial had been conducted in an "adequate and well-controlled" manner. As such, plaintiff asserts that the data lacked reliability, thereby making any application unlikely to be accepted for filing, much less approved, by the FDA. It is further alleged that defendants also knew that the FDA would not allow a BLA to be filed where the data lacked "prima facie" reliability.
On December 6, 2001, the Company announced that it would not file the Hemopure application until mid-2002, contrary to repeated prior assertions that the BLA would be filed in 2001. Biopure blamed the delay on "additional facility and process validation requirements" for its Cambridge, Massachusetts manufacturing plant. Plaintiff asserts that this was merely a pretext for the delay, which in fact was occasioned by the numerous violations of protocols that had occurred throughout the clinical trial. As a result of these revelations, the price of Biopure stock fell to less than $15 per share, well below the $20 plateau above which the stock traded throughout most of the Class Period.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all class members.
If you are a member of the Class described above, and if you meet certain other legal requirements, you may, no later than April 8, 2002, move the Court to serve as a lead plaintiff. A lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Under certain circumstances, one or more class members may together serve as "lead plaintiff."
The requirements for serving as a lead plaintiff are set forth in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. Section 78u-4). You may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice (and need not necessarily do so through plaintiff's counsel). (15 U.S.C. 78u-4(a)(3)). At this stage, providing information or communicating with counsel is unnecessary to participate in any recovery resulting from this litigation.
Wechsler Harwood has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded shareholders. The Wechsler Harwood website (http://www.whhf.com/) has more information about the firm. If you wish to discuss this action with us, or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights and interests with regard to the case, please contact the following:
Wechsler Harwood Halebian & Feffer LLP 488 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor New York, New York 10022 Toll Free Telephone: (877) 935-7400
Craig Lowther, Wechsler Harwood Shareholder Relations Department: clowther@whhf.com
SOURCE: Wechsler Harwood Halebian & Feffer LLP
Contact: Craig Lowther of Wechsler Harwood Shareholder Relations
Department, clowther@whhf.com
Website: http://www.whhf.com/