NEW YORK, Feb. 12 2005 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network — Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, on behalf of all persons who purchased the
securities of EPIX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“EPIX” or the “Company”)
(Nasdaq: EPIX) between March 18, 2002 and January 14, 2005, inclusive, (the
“Class Period”) against defendants EPIX and certain officers and directors of
the Company.
The case name is Doraville Management II Corp. v. EPIX Pharmaceuticals,
Inc., et al. A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from
the Court, or can be viewed on the Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP
website at http://www.whafh.com.
The complaint alleges that defendants violated the federal securities laws
by issuing materially false and misleading statements throughout the Class
Period that had the effect of artificially inflating the market price of the
Company’s securities.
The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, statements made by the
defendants were materially false and misleading because they failed to
disclose and misrepresented the following adverse facts: (a) defendants failed
to adopt and implement clinical quality management practices to deal with test
and control scan problems which were ultimately responsible for difficulties
in the statistical analysis and determination of efficacy of MS-325, the
Company’s lead product under development; (b) the EPIX Phase III protocol for
MS-325 permitted clinical investigators to substitute their own standards for
MRI imaging; (c) clinical investigators were substituting their own standards
for MRI imaging resulting in the use of non-standard, and non-uniform, imaging
methods to acquire the non-contrast MRA comparator “control” scans; (d)
failure to implement appropriate clinical quality management practices with
regard to the method of acquiring non-contrast MRA comparator scans resulted
in sufficient variability from study site to site; (e) clinical investigators
generated a statistically significant greater number of uninterpretable images
during the Phase III trials than is otherwise expected, a result rooted in the
absence of clear instruction and defective clinical quality standards as to
the requirements for performance of test and non-contrast MRA comparator scan
controls; (f) problems with uninterpretable images, multiple standards for
acquisition of control scans, deficient clinical quality practices, and
difficulties in the statistical analysis and determination of efficacy of MS-
325 were known to defendants prior to the submission of the clinical data and
results to the FDA; and (g) the problems with the quality of the underlying
clinical data and results for the MS-325 New Drug Application, caused by the
failure to implement appropriate clinical quality management practices, were
so serious so as to prevent the Company from making a case for the efficacy of
MS-325, cause resulting diminished prospects for MS-325 to be approved for use
by the FDA at the end of the regulatory review cycle.
If you purchased EPIX securities during the Class Period, you may request
that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff by March 28, 2005. A lead
plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members
in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed 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. Under certain circumstances, one or more class members may together
serve as “lead plaintiff.” Your ability to share in any recovery is not,
however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff.
You may retain Wolf Haldenstein, or other counsel of your choice, to serve as
your counsel in this action.
Wolf Haldenstein has extensive experience in the prosecution of securities
class actions and derivative litigation in state and federal trial and
appellate courts across the country. The firm has approximately 60 attorneys
in various practice areas; and offices in Chicago, New York City, San Diego,
and West Palm Beach. The reputation and expertise of this firm in shareholder
and other class litigation has been repeatedly recognized by the courts, which
have appointed it to major positions in complex securities multi-district and
consolidated litigation.
If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions, please contact
Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP at 270 Madison Avenue, New York, New
York 10016, by telephone at (800) 575-0735 (Fred Taylor Isquith, Esq.,
Christopher S. Hinton, or Derek Behnke), via e-mail at classmember@whafh.com
or visit our website at http://www.whafh.com. All e-mail correspondence should
make reference to EPIX.
