West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.

This securities fraud class action asserts claims against West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (“West” or the “Company”), a multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology, generic and medical device company, and its senior executives Eric Green (CEO), Bernard Birkett (former CFO & COO), Quintin Lai (former VP Strategy & Investor Relations), and Cindy Reiss-Clark (former CCO) (collectively, “Defendants”). On October 15, 2025, Court appointed Lead Plaintiffs AkademikerPension – Akademikernes Pensionskasse, Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi, and Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme filed the Amended Class Action Complaint (“Complaint”) against Defendants alleging violations of Sections 10(b), 20(a), and 20A of the Securities Exchange Act.

The case arises out of representations that Defendants made between February 16, 2023 and February 12, 2025 (the “Class Period”) concerning the demand for West’s products coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic and the margins West expected to generate from its key segments. With respect to demand, Defendants assured the market that West was uniquely positioned to avoid the “destocking” headwinds afflicting pharmaceutical businesses in the wake of COVID, that any destocking among its customers was temporary, and that destocking would not impact its base business. Defendants also affirmed steady demand in its Contract Manufacturing business, specifically touting a strong pipeline for customers making Continuous Glucose Monitors (“CGM”). With regard to West’s margins, Defendants told the market that West’s wearable pharmaceutical delivery device, SmartDose, was ramping up smoothly and would be a boon to the Company’s margins. 

Plaintiffs allege Defendants’ representations were materially false or misleading for reasons including the following. First, regarding demand, Plaintiffs allege that West was experiencing destocking not only with COVID related products, but also in its base business, including in its High Value Products (“HVP”) portfolio. Second, prior to the Class Period, Dexcom, one of West’s top Contract Manufacturing customers, refused to continue partnering with West to manufacture its CGM device, and by the beginning of 2023, the CGM production process started ramping down. Further, West faced multiple production problems that caused the supposedly high-margin SmartDose device to drag the Company’s margins down.

Critically, Plaintiffs maintain that, while making these materially false and misleading statements, Defendants Green, Birkett, Lai, and Reiss-Clark were aware of the falsity of their statements. The Complaint relies on eight confidential witnesses (“CWs”), who are all well-positioned former employees of West, for information related to Defendants’ knowledge of the fraud. First, CWs describe reports that Defendants regularly received showing destocking affecting West’s base business. These reports showed that as order volumes were decreasing, customers were delaying shipment of existing orders, and the rate of production was slowing. Second, Defendants were informed by Dexcom as early as 2022 that their partnership would be ending. A CW says that the entire company was aware that West was losing one its two major CGM customers. Third, numerous CWs explain how Defendants were repeatedly told that SmartDose production was ridden with errors and having difficulty achieving profitable levels of automation, which led to an overwhelming majority of devices being scrapped and mountains of broken devices accumulating throughout the manufacturing facility. Finally, the Complaint alleges that Defendants were motivated to perpetuate the fraud because they personally benefitted from making suspiciously timed stock sales at inflated prices amounting to over $122 million. The Complaint shows that the stock trades made by Defendants Green, Birkett, and Reiss-Clark improperly relied upon nonpublic information, also making them liable under Section 20(A). 
 
The truth about the true headwinds in West’s business came to light through a series of corrective disclosures. The market learned the reality about destocking through five disclosures between July 2023 and July 2024, where Defendants trickled out news regarding the true impact of destocking on West’s core business including its impact on West’s closely followed HVP portfolio. The full truth was revealed on February 13, 2025 when Defendants disclosed that both of the Company’s large CGM customers, including Dexcom, would be leaving West, and that producing the SmartDose device would be “margin dilutive.” Following these disclosures, West’s stock price plummeted approximately 38%, causing West’s investors to suffer substantial losses. 

Defendants have until December 18, 2025 to move to dismiss the complaint and plaintiffs have until February 24, 2026, to respond, whereby briefing on the complaint will conclude and be considered by Judge Sanchez of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.