Geron investors may receive additional information about the case by clicking the link "Submit Your Information" above.
According to the complaint, Geron is a biopharmaceutical company. Geron was developing imetelstat, a drug intended to treat certain cancers that occur in bone marrow, in partnership with Janssen Biotech Inc. (“Janssen”), a division of Johnson & Johnson. During the Class Period, Janssen would decide whether to continue to partner with Geron on imetelstat. If Janssen decided to continue with the collaboration, it would owe Geron an upfront payment of $65 million, with hundreds of millions of dollars in additional milestone payments possible. Janssen would make its decision based in part on the results of the IMbark trial. Janssen was conducting that trial under the supervision of the Joint Steering Committee (“JSC”) consisting of both Geron and Janssen employees. The JSC conducted an internal, nonpublic review of the IMbark results in March 2018. That review showed that IMbark was a failure. The two primary endpoints for the study, the results which would determine whether the study was successful or not, were: (i) the spleen response rate, which measured the reduction in spleen swelling, and (ii) a composite of various symptoms called the Total Symptom Score (TSS).
The Class Period commences on March 19, 2018, when Geron held a conference call with investors. John A. Scarlett (“Scarlett”), Geron’s President and Chief Executive Officer, chose to tout the median overall survival of patients in IMbark, one of the study’s fourteen secondary endpoints.
According to the complaint, on the morning of March 27, 2018, Adam Feuerstein, a veteran biotech journalist, published an article on STAT News, an online life sciences publication, entitled “The top-performing biotech stock this year has surged on flimsy data.” In the article, Feuerstein called out Geron and Scarlett for intentionally misleading the market with their statements on March 19, 2018. Following this news, Geron shares, which had closed at $5.98 per share on March 26, 2018, dropped 29% over the next two days to close at $4.23 per share on March 28, 2018.
Then, on September 27, 2018, Geron issued a press release admitting that IMbark was a failure. Geron disclosed that the IMbark study showed only a 10% decrease in spleen volume, when 35% or more was required for success, and a 32% reduction in TSS, when at least 50% was needed. Geron also announced that Janssen had terminated its partnership with the Geron for the development of imetelstat. Following these disclosures, the price of Geron’s common stock dropped from $6.23 per share to $2.31 per share in one day, a decrease of over 62%.
The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, the defendants: (1) misled investors about the results of a clinical drug study of imetelstat; and (2) as a result, the defendants’ statements about Geron’s business, operations, and prospects were materially false and misleading and lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.
If you are a member of the class described above, you may no later than March 23, 2020 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. Returning the attached form or communicating with any counsel is not necessary to participate or share in any recovery achieved in this case. Any member of the purported class may move the court to serve as a lead plaintiff through counsel of his/her 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 1-844-887-9500 or 1-610-667-7706, or via e-mail at info@ktmc.com. If you would like additional information about the suit, please click on the link "Submit Your Information" above and fill out the form as promptly as possible.
CONTACT:
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP
James Maro, Esq. or Adrienne Bell, Esq.
280 King of Prussia Road
Radnor, PA 19087
1-844-887-9500 (toll free) or 1-610-667-7706
Or by e-mail at info@ktmc.com