NEW YORK, Nov. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The Law Firm of Cauley Geller Bowman & Rudman, LLP announced today that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of purchasers of Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Titan" or the "Company") publicly traded securities during the period between December 1, 1999 and July 22, 2002, inclusive (the "Class Period"). A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from the Court, or can be viewed on the firm's website at http://www.cauleygeller.com/show_case.asp?ccode=187&pcode=10&pp=4 .
The complaint alleges that defendants Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Louis R. Bucalo, Sunil Bhonsle, Richard C. Allen, and Robert E. Farrell violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b- 5 promulgated thereunder, by issuing a series of material misrepresentations to the market between December 1, 1999 through July 22, 2002 concerning Titan's drug, Iloperidone.
More specifically, the Complaint alleges that the defendants' statements were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose and/or misrepresented the following adverse facts, among others: (1) that Titan was aware, through its licensing agreement with Aventis SA, that Iloperidone caused negative cardiovascular, urogenital, and respiratory reactions; (2) that Titan was aware that Iloperidone was not safe and efficient; (3) that Titan was aware that the Iloperidone program conducted by Novartis SA was not proceeding well and would not be completed on schedule; (4) that Titan was aware that Iloperidone was not a comparable or superior product to its competitors; (5) that Titan was aware, at the time it entered into the licensing agreement with Novartis SA for the Japanese marketing rights, that Iloperidone caused negative cardiovascular, urogenital, and respiratory reactions; (6) that Titan was aware that the clinical trial results indicated that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would require Iloperidone, because of its cardiovascular, urogenital, and respiratory problems, to be marketed with box warnings and physician letters; and (7) that Titan was aware that it was not making progress towards commercialization of Iloperidone because the drug caused cardiovascular, urogenital, and respiratory problems.
On July 24, 2001, the Company announced that its U.S. filing for Iloperidone would be delayed a year. The Company indicated that the delay was necessary to investigate once-a-day dosing, demonstrate a favorable safety profile when switching from other antipsychotic agents to Iloperidone, and support the competitive profile of the compound. This announcement failed to reveal the real reason behind the Company's delay in its U.S. filing, which was that Iloperidone caused cardiovascular, urogenital, and respiratory problems. The market reacted swiftly to this news, with the Company's stock falling 57%, or $16.04 to close at $11.95 on July 24, 2001.
Then, one year later on July 22, 2002, after the market had closed, the Company announced the completion of a study conducted by Novartis of the effect of Iloperidone on the EKG profile of patients. A primary endpoint of the study was evaluation of the change in QT interval from baseline to week six. The study indicated that results for iloperidone were roughly comparable to that for ziprasidone, one of the approved agents in the study. Given these results, the Company stated that, even if approvable, these results may potentially limit the opportunity of Iloperidone as first line therapy for schizophrenia. The market reacted swiftly to this news, with the Company's stock falling 97%, or $63.63 from a high during the Class Period of $65.26 on September 26, 2000 to close at $1.63 on July 22, 2002.
If you bought Titan publicly traded securities between December 1, 1999 and July 22, 2002, inclusive, and you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than January 5, 2004. If you are a member of this class, you can join this class action online at http://www.cauleygeller.com/template8.asp?pcode=6&pp=1 . Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through Cauley Geller or other counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
Cauley Geller is a national law firm that represents investors and consumers in class action and corporate governance litigation. It is one of the country's premiere firms in the area of securities fraud, with in-house finance and forensic accounting specialists and extensive trial experience. Since its founding, Cauley Geller has recovered in excess of two billion dollars on behalf of aggrieved shareholders. The firm maintains offices in Boca Raton, Little Rock and New York.
If you have any questions about how you may be able to recover for your losses, or if you would like to consider serving as one of the lead plaintiffs in this lawsuit, you are encouraged to call or e-mail the Firm or visit the Firm's website at http://www.cauleygeller.com/ .
Contact:
CAULEY GELLER BOWMAN & RUDMAN, LLP
Samuel H. Rudman, Esq. or David A. Rosenfeld, Esq.
Client Relations Department:
Jackie Addison or Heather Gann
P.O. Box 25438
Little Rock, AR 72221-5438
Toll Free: 1-888-551-9944
Fax: 1-501-312-8505
E-mail: info@cauleygeller.com
Cauley Geller Bowman & Rudman, LLP