Pomerantz, a US-based law firm, said on July 19 that it has launched a class action lawsuit against Bharat Biotech’s US partner Ocugen, which has a license to manufacture and commercialize Covaxin in the US and Canada, asserting certain violations of the US federal securities laws.
Pomerantz has alleged in its class-action lawsuit that, the defendants Ocugen a US-based Pharma company have made materially false and misleading statements regarding the company’s business, operations, and compliance policies.
The class action was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by Pomerantz. “… failed to disclose that the information submitted to the (US)FDA was insufficient to support a EUA, Ocugen would not file an Emergency Use Authorization with the FDA, (and) as a result of the foregoing, the Company’s financial statements, as well as defendants’ statements about Ocugen’s business, operations, and prospects, were false and misleading or lacked a reasonable basis,” Pomerantz alleged in its lawsuit.
On February 2, Ocugen had announced it has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Bharat Biotech to obtain exclusive rights to develop, manufacture the COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin in the US.
Pomerantz is now accusing Ocugen of stock manipulation, claiming that after the news of the high efficacy Covaxin vaccine’s licensing, Ocugen’s stock price surged from $1.81 per share on February 1, 2021, to $3.26 per share on February 2, 2021, representing a gain of about 80.1 percent.
“On February 5, submitted investor presentation that described in great detail the Covaxin vaccine characteristics, the “unmet need in the United States” and Ocugen’s plan to develop and file an Emergency Use Authorization (“EUA”) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”),” Pomerantz said.
“On June 10, 2021, Ocugen issued a press release announcing that it would pursue a “biologics license application” with the FDA instead of the previously announced EUA,” it added.
(with inputs from Moneycontrol)
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.