Use this button to switch between dark and light mode.

Experience a New Era in Legal Research with Free Access to Lexis+

Gagnon v. Alkermes PLC

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

March 28, 2019, Decided; March 28, 2019, Filed

17cv9178

Opinion

 [*758]  OPINION & ORDER

WILLIAM H. PAULEY III, Senior United States District Judge:

 [*759]  Defendants Alkermes plc ("Alkermes"), Richard F. Pops, its Chief Executive Officer, and James M. Frates, its Chief Financial Officer, move to dismiss the Second Amended Complaint (the "Complaint") under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Lead Plaintiff Local 731 I.B. of T. [**2]  Private Scavenger and Garage Attendants Pension Trust Fund ("Local 731") moves to strike various exhibits appended to Defendants' motion. For the reasons that follow, Local 731's motion to strike is granted in part and denied in part, and Defendants' motion to dismiss is granted.

BACKGROUND

The allegations in the Complaint are presumed true for purposes of this motion. Alkermes is a global pharmaceutical company that markets and sells a product trade-named Vivitrol, an injectable, extended-release version of an opioid dependence medication called naltrexone. This securities fraud class action concerns statements that Defendants made touting Vivitrol's sales growth and its effectiveness in treating opioid dependence. Local 731 claims that while Defendants crafted a narrative of organic, word-of-mouth growth in SEC filings and on investor conference calls, they concealed from investors a calculated and sustained campaign to market Vivitrol.

Starting in June 2017, the truth began to emerge through a steady cascade of news articles that shed a critical light on Alkermes' sales practices, academic studies that reached tepid conclusions as to Vivitrol's relative effectiveness, and revelations [**3]  of governmental scrutiny of Vivitrol. Based on a progressive decline in Alkermes' stock price, plaintiffs assert claims against all Defendants for violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, as well as Section 20(a) claims against Pops and Frates.

I. Opioid Dependence Treatments

Read The Full CaseNot a Lexis Advance subscriber? Try it out for free.

Full case includes Shepard's, Headnotes, Legal Analytics from Lex Machina, and more.

368 F. Supp. 3d 750 *; 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52841 **; Fed. Sec. L. Rep. (CCH) P100,385

NANCY GAGNON, Individually and On Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, Plaintiff, -against- ALKERMES PLC, RICHARD F. POPS and JAMES M. FRATES, Defendants.

Subsequent History: Reconsideration denied by, in part Gagnon v. Alkermes PLC, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111484 (S.D.N.Y., July 2, 2019)

CORE TERMS

opioid, misleading, Defendants', sales, investor, misstatements, scienter, relapse, allegations, disclosures, Exhibits, patients, documents, naltrexone, methadone, disclose, motion to dismiss, practices, contents, label, strong inference, judicial notice, competitors, drug-free, omission, filings, motive, shares, efficacy, courts

Civil Procedure, Defenses, Demurrers & Objections, Motions to Dismiss, Failure to State Claim, Evidence, Judicial Notice, Pleadings, Heightened Pleading Requirements, Fraud Claims, Securities Law, Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Actions, Implied Private Rights of Action, Elements of Proof, Postoffering & Secondary Distributions, Heightened Pleading Requirements, Elements of Proof, Materiality, Puffery, Materiality, Inferences & Presumptions, Inferences, Civil Liability Considerations, Securities Litigation Reform & Standards, Sufficiency of Allegations, Scienter, Motive & Opportunity, Recklessness, Scienter, Secondary Liability, Controlling Persons