Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP Files A Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit Against Emergent Biosolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) For Violations Of Federal Securities Laws With Expanded Class Period

RADNOR, Pa., May 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP announces that the firm has filed a securities fraud class action against Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) ("Emergent") on behalf investors who purchased or acquired Emergent common stock between April 24, 2020, and April 16, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period").  This action, captioned Roth v. Emergent BioSolutions Inc., et al., Case No. 1:21-cv-01189-CCB (the "Roth Action"), was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland (Southern Division).  To view a copy of the Roth Action complaint, please click here.  

There is one related class action case pending against Emergent in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland (Southern Division), and a published notice in that action triggered the deadline of June 18, 2021, for any investors who purchased Emergent common stock to seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class. The filing of the Roth Action does not change the June 18, 2021 lead plaintiff deadline.

For additional information or to learn how to participate in this litigation, please contact Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP:  James Maro, Esq. (484) 270-1453 or Adrienne Bell, Esq. (484) 270-1435; toll free at (844) 887-9500; via e-mail at [email protected]; or visit: https://www.ktmc.com/emergent-biosolutions-class-action-lawsuit?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=emergent.

Emergent is a specialty biopharmaceutical company that develops vaccines and antibody therapeutics for infectious diseases. In response to the novel strain of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) causing COVID-19 disease ("COVID-19") pandemic, Emergent signed a series of deals with Johnson & Johnson ("J&J") and AstraZeneca worth a combined $876 million to provide contract development and manufacturing organization services to produce the companies' COVID-19 vaccine candidates.  

The Class Period begins on April 24, 2020, the day after Emergent announced that it had entered into an agreement with J&J to manufacture J&J's COVID-19 vaccine candidate at Emergent's Baltimore facility. Under the deal, Emergent would provide drug substance manufacturing services and reserve large-scale manufacturing capacity for J&J.  Then, on June 11, 2020 Emergent announced that it had signed another agreement to provide contract development and manufacturing services and secure large-scale manufacturing capacity to support AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

The truth about Emergent began to be revealed on March 31, 2021 after the close of markets, when The New York Times published an article reporting on the accidental contamination of COVID-19 vaccines developed by J&J and AstraZeneca at Emergent's Baltimore facility. The New York Times article stated that in late February 2021, Emergent employees at the Baltimore facility mixed up ingredients of the two different COVID-19 vaccines, contaminating up to 15 million doses of J&J's vaccine and forcing regulators to delay authorization of the facility's production lines. Also, "[f]urther shipments of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine — expected to total 24 million doses in the next month — were supposed to come from the giant plant in Baltimore" but "[t]hose deliveries are now in question while the quality control issues are sorted out." 

The next morning, April 1, 2021, the Associated Press reported, based on documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, that the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") had "repeatedly . . . cited Emergent for problems such as poorly trained employees, cracked vials and problems managing mold and other contamination around one of its facilities."  Following this news, Emergent's stock price substantially declined from a close of $92.91 per share on March 31, 2021, to $80.46 per share at the close of trading on April 1, 2021, a drop of $12.45, or over 13%, per share.

Then, on April 19, 2021, Emergent revealed that, "at the request of the FDA, Emergent agreed not to initiate the manufacturing of any new material at its Bayview facility and to quarantine existing material manufactured at the Bayview facility pending completion of the [FDA's] inspection and remediation of any resulting findings."  Following this news, the price of Emergent's common stock declined $9.77 per share, or more than 12%, from a close of $77.64 per share on April 16, 2021, to close at $67.87 per share on April 19, 2021.

The Roth Action alleges that, throughout the Class Period, the defendants failed to disclose that: (1) Emergent's Baltimore facility had a history of manufacturing issues increasing the likelihood for massive contaminations; (2) the Baltimore facility had received a series of FDA citations as a result of these contamination risks and quality control issues; (3) Emergent had been forced to discard millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines after workers at the facility deviated from manufacturing standards; and (4) as a result of the foregoing, the defendants' public statements about Emergent's ability and capacity to mass manufacture multiple COVID-19 vaccines at its Baltimore facility were materially false and/or misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

Emergent investors may, no later than June 18, 2021, seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.  A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation.  In order to be appointed as a lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class.  Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. 

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country involving securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations of state and federal law. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world.  The firm represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers (private citizens who report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the recovery of government dollars).  For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP, please visit www.ktmc.com.

CONTACT:
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP
James Maro, Jr., Esq.
Adrienne Bell, Esq.
280 King of Prussia Road
Radnor, PA 19087
(844) 887-9500
[email protected]

SOURCE Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP

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