According to the complaint, Juno is a biopharmaceutical company that is developing cell-based cancer immunotherapies. Its leading product candidate is called JCAR015, which is currently in clinical trials.
The complaint alleges that Juno knew, and has previously admitted, that one of the notable side effects of JCAR015 is “severe neurotoxicity.” In May 2016, a patient in the Phase 2 trial of JCAR015 - the so-called “ROCKET” trial - died of a cerebral edema, a form of neurotoxicity. Juno knew the patient’s death was important. The company consulted with its Data Safety Monitoring Board and the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) about an appropriate response. Yet the company failed to advise investors.
The complaint further alleges that in early June, Juno issued a glowing press release about JCAR015 that boasted of “[l]ower side effects in patients with minimal disease at time of CAR T cell infusion” and made partial, misleading disclosures about side effects—revealing that “Grade 3 or higher neurotoxicity was observed in 15/51 (29%) patients” in a Phase 1 trial but failing to disclose the patient death in May. Shortly thereafter, defendant Hans E. Bishop, Juno’s CEO, sold over $8.6 million worth of shares in June 2016—more than twice the value of his total sales for all of 2015.
Then, in late June or early July, two more patients in the ROCKET trial died of cerebral edemas, which caused the FDA to issue a clinical hold and forced the defendants to reveal the truth.
According to the complaint, on July 7, 2016, the company issued a press release after the close of trading, wherein the company disclosed the clinical hold and the two patient deaths in June. Following this news, and after closing at $40.82/share on July 7, 2016, the company’s stock price dropped to $27.81/share on July 8, 2016—a 31.9% drop.
If you are a member of the class described above, you may no later than September 12, 2016 move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff of the class, if you so choose.
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. Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. Any member of the purported class may move the court to serve as a lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an inactive class member.
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP has not filed a complaint in this matter. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP toll free at 1-888-299-7706 or 1-610-667-7706, or via e-mail at info@ktmc.com. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP, please visit our website at http://www.ktmc.com.
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