Mayne Pharma Under Fire in Australia as Investors File Class-Action Lawsuit

Mayne Pharma Group investors have filed a class action lawsuit against the company in the Supreme Court of Victoria for alleged "misleading and deceptive conduct." 

The suit is handled by Phi Finney McDonald, the law firm representing the plaintiff and all the persons who acquired an interest in fully paid ordinary shares of the company and/or depositary receipts from 24 November 2014 to 16 December 2016. It is funded by Vannin Capital. 

The filing accused the Australian pharmaceutical company, which also has operations in the U.S., of breaching disclosure obligations with regard to anti-competitive conduct. This was an issue raised by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of the Attorney General in Connecticut against several pharmaceutical firms, Mayne Pharma included. 

In a public statement, the company denies any and all allegations of wrongdoing, adding that it will "vigorously defend" itself in court. 

In a statement posted on Phi Finney McDonald's website, the plaintiffs alleged that Mayne violated its obligations multiple times over the past years by failing to inform its investors about major happenings that could affect investment and market value. 

The document states that the firm agreed to price-fixing and market-sharing agreements with Heritage executives in 2014, which violated the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. The Act, named after its principal author Senator John Sherman, deems illegal any "contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade," and any kind of "monopolization, attempted monopolization, or conspiracy to monopolize." 

Reportedly, Mayne and other defendants conspired to restrain trade, inflate the price, and to reduce competition among generic drugs.

As a result, the company's shares fell 3 percent to 32 cents each, with stock prices also down by around 15 percent from the previous year.

This is not the first time that Mayne has been accused of price-fixing and artificially inflating share prices. In 2016, 20 states sued the company, and several others, for conspiring to hyper-inflate prices for topical dermatological generic drugs. The investigation at the time reportedly revealed a database of over 20 million documents and telephone records in relation to the said misconduct.

The latest planned class action will state that Mayne inflated its share price by failing to disclose failures, thereby leaving investors and shareholders with huge losses and damage. 

As of this writing, lawsuit filers have called on all former and current shareholders who transacted with the company from 24 November 2014 to 15 December 2016 to register their interest. The call to action also noted that funding and legal expenses will be provided to those who sign up.