In re Prothena Corporation PLC Securities Litigation

On October 31, 2018, Labaton Keller Sucharow was appointed co-lead counsel in a securities class action lawsuit against Prothena Corporation plc (Prothena), and certain of its senior executives.  The action asserts claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, on behalf of all persons or entities that purchased Prothena’s publicly traded common stock between October 15, 2015, and April 20, 2018, inclusive.

On August 26, 2019, the parties executed a Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement for $15.75 million.  Final Judgment was entered on December 4, 2019.

Prothena is a development-stage biotechnology company.  During the class period, Prothena’s principal asset was NEOD001, a drug designed to treat amyloid light chain amyloidosis (“AL amyloidosis”), a rare, progressive, and typically fatal disease, resulting in organ damage and failure.

The Amended Complaint alleges that defendants misleadingly cited the results of Prothena’s ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical study of NEOD001 as evidence that the drug was effective and provided a strong basis for late-stage Phase 2b and Phase 3 studies of NEOD001.  In truth, NEOD001 was not an effective treatment for AL amyloidosis and did not provide an adequate basis for the late-stage Phase 2b and Phase 3 studies.  When the truth regarding NEOD001’s prospects was finally revealed, the price of the Company’s stock declined by over 69 percent.

The case is In re Prothena Corporation PLC Securities Litigation, No. 18-cv-06425 (S.D.N.Y.).  Lead plaintiffs are Granite Point Capital, Granite Point Capital Master Fund, LP, Granite Point Capital Panacea Heatlhcare, Grant Point Scorpion Focused Ideas Fund (collectively, Granite Point) and Simon James.  Labaton Keller Sucharow represents Granite Point.

Settlement Hearing

A Settlement Hearing was held December 2, 2019, before the Honorable Andrew L. Carter, Jr., 11:30 a.m. in Courtroom 1306 of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, New York, NY 10007.

If you have questions about the Settlement, please contact Labaton Keller Sucharow at settlementquestions@labaton.com or 1-888-219-6877, or contact the Claims Administrator, Strategic Claims Services at (877) 310-6376. Additional information about the Settlement can also be found at: www.strategicclaims.net.