This is a securities class action on behalf of purchasers of common stock of Biopure Corporation ("Biopure" or the "Company")(NASDAQ:BPUR), between March 17, 2003 and December 24, 2003 inclusive (the "Class Period").
The complaint is entitled W. Kenneth Johnson v. Biopure Corporation, et al., 04 cv 10190 (NG). The complaint charges Biopure and certain of its officers and directors with violations of sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants issued a series of false and misleading statements and filed periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The complaint also alleges that during the class period defendants issued numerous positive statements about the progress of its application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") seeking regulatory approval to market Hemopure in the United States. However, as early as March 2003, the FDA had informed defendants that proposed clinical trials could not go forward because of "safety issues." Accordingly, defendants knew that the FDA approval was in jeopardy.
On December 24, 2003, the last day of the class period, defendants shocked the market by issuing a press release after the close of the market that Biopure had received a Wells Notice from the SEC, indicating the staff’s preliminary decision to recommend that the Commission bring civil injunctive proceedings against the company and that the FDA had halted further clinical trials of Hemopure due to safety concerns. Defendants also stated that they would respond to the FDA’s concerns by mid-2004, thereby delaying the commercial release of Hemopure in the United States, if at all, beyond the mid-2003 target date defendants had previously stated. The market reacted swiftly and dramatically to these disclosures. On December 26, 2003, the price per share for Biopure common stock plummeted 13.83% from its previous trading day’s closing price to close at $2.43 per share, a decline of over 70.5% from its class period high of $8.25 per share on or about August 21, 2003.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of himself and others who purchased Biopure Corporation common stock during the Class Period who suffered damages as a result.
