NEW YORK, Aug. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against MEI Pharma, Inc. (“MEI” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: MEIP) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of California, and docketed under 20-cv-01543, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons other than Defendants who purchased or otherwise acquired MEI Pharma securities between August 2, 2017, and July 1, 2020, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants’ violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.
If you are a shareholder who purchased MEI securities during the class period, you have until October 9, 2020, 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 newaction@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
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MEI Pharma was founded in 2000 and is based in San Diego, California. The Company was formerly known as Marshall Edwards, Inc. and changed its name to MEI Pharma, Inc. in July 2012. MEI Pharma is a late-stage pharmaceutical company that focuses on the development of various therapies for the treatment of cancer. MEI Pharma’s clinical drug candidates include, among others, Pracinostat, an oral histone deacetylase (“HDAC”) inhibitor.
MEI Pharma and Helsinn Healthcare SA, a Swiss pharmaceutical corporation (“Helsinn”), with which MEI Pharma had an exclusive worldwide license, development, manufacturing and commercialization agreement for Pracinostat in acute myeloid leukemia (“AML”), myelodysplastic syndrome, and other potential indications (the “Helsinn License Agreement”), were evaluating Pracinostat in, among other studies, a pivotal Phase 3 global registration clinical trial for the treatment of adults with newly diagnosed AML who are unfit to receive intensive chemotherapy (the “Phase 3 Pracinostat Trial”). The Phase 3 Pracinostat Trial, which was initiated in June 2017, was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study that would enroll worldwide approximately 500 adults with newly diagnosed AML who are unfit to receive intensive chemotherapy. Patients were randomized 1:1 to receive Pracinostat or placebo with azacitidine as background therapy. The primary endpoint of the trial was overall survival.
The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operational, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) MEI Pharma had overstated Pracinostat’s potential efficacy as an AML treatment for the target population; (ii) consequently, the Phase 3 Pracinostat Trial was unlikely to meet its primary endpoint of overall survival; (iii) all the foregoing, once revealed, was foreseeably likely to have a material negative impact on the Company’s financial condition and prospects for Pracinostat; and (iv) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On July 2, 2020, during pre-market hours, MEI Pharma issued a press release announcing that it was discontinuing the Phase 3 Pracinostat Trial. Specifically, the Company advised that an interim futility analysis of the Phase 3 Pracinostat Trial, undertaken by the study’s Independent Data Monitoring Committee (“IDMC”), “has demonstrated it was unlikely to meet the primary endpoint of overall survival compared to the control group,” and that “[b]ased on the outcome of the interim analysis, the decision was made to discontinue the recruitment of patients and end the study,” which “was based on a lack of efficacy and not on safety concerns.”
Following MEI Pharma’s announcement, the Company’s stock price fell $0.78 per share, or 18.27%, to close at $3.49 per share on July 2, 2020.
The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris 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 80 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 .
CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP rswilloughby@pomlaw.com
