NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz Grossman Hufford Dahlstrom & Gross LLP has filed a class action lawsuit against Unilife Corporation ("Unilife" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: UNIS ) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania, and docketed under 13-cv-02690, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired securities of Unilife between July 13, 2011 and September 9, 2013 both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"). This class action seeks to recover damages against the Company and certain of its officers and directors as a result of alleged violations of the federal securities laws pursuant to Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder.
If you are a shareholder who purchased Unilife securities during the Class Period, you have until December 31, 2013 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com . To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll free, x237. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased.
Unilife designs and manufactures medical devices. The Company produces retractable syringes.
The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) the Company's Unifill syringes failed to comply with the Food and Drug Administration's ("FDA") validation processes (2) the Company's Quality Management System failed to comply with FDA regulations; (3) the Company purposefully increased its purchases of Unifill component parts to make suppliers believe that Unilife was producing at increased volumes despite the fact that there was no customer demand or manufacturing capacity to support such purchases; and (4) as a result of the foregoing, the Company's statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On August 30, 2013, a former Unilife employee named Talbot Smith filed a complaint against the Company alleging that Unilife terminated his employment for reporting various regulatory violations to the appropriate authorities. For example, Smith alleges that the Company purposefully ran fake production at the Company's facility in order to lead visiting investors to believe that demand for the Company's products were high. Moreover, according to Smith, the Company purposefully suppressed internal reports demonstrating that the cost of developing the Company's syringes were higher than the price the Company was able to sell to customers.
On September 3, 2013, Forbes published an article concluding that the Company's main manufacturing facility was operating at 3% of capacity, or roughly 2 million syringes per annum. On this news, Unilife securities declined $0.52 per share or more than 14%, to close at $3.03 per share on September 4, 2013.
The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and San Diego, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 70 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com .
Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz Grossman Hufford Dahlstrom & Gross LLP
