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New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - February 11, 2021) - Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against AstraZeneca plc ("AstraZeneca" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: AZN) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and docketed under 21-cv-00825, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise, acquired AstraZeneca securities between May 21, 2020 and November 20, 2020, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.
If you are a shareholder who purchased AstraZeneca securities during the Class Period, you have until March 27, 2021 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
AstraZeneca is one of the largest biopharmaceutical companies in the world. The Company is primarily known for its development of drugs to treat cancer, asthma, and other chronic conditions, and has not historically specialized in vaccine development.
In April 2020, the Company partnered with Oxford University to develop a potential recombinant adenovirus vaccine for COVID-19, later dubbed AZD1222. Oxford University's work on developing a COVID-19 vaccine began in January 2020, almost as soon as the virus was recognized globally. Volunteers for the first clinical trial were recruited and screened in March 2020, and a Phase 1 clinical trial was launched the following month.
The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements, and failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operational, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and failed to disclose to investors that: (i) initial clinical trials for AZD1222 had suffered from a critical manufacturing error, resulting in a substantial number of trial participants receiving half the designed dosage; (ii) clinical trials for AZD1222 consisted of a patchwork of disparate patient subgroups, each with subtly different treatments, undermining the validity and import of the conclusions that could be drawn from the clinical data across these disparate patient populations; (iii) certain clinical trial participants for AZD1222 had not received a second dose at the designated time points, but rather received the second dose up to several weeks after the dose had been scheduled to be delivered according to the original trial design; (iv) AstraZeneca had failed to include a substantial number of patients over 55 years of age in its clinical trials for AZD1222, despite this patient population being particularly vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19 and thus a high priority target market for the drug; (v) AstraZeneca's clinical trials for AZD1222 had been hamstrung by widespread flaws in design, errors in execution, and a failure to properly coordinate and communicate with regulatory authorities and the general public; (vi) as a result of all the foregoing, the clinical trials for AZD1222 had not been conducted in accordance with industry best practices and acceptable standards and the data and conclusions that could be derived from the clinical trials was of limited utility; (vii) as a result of all the foregoing, AZD1222 was unlikely to be approved for commercial use in the U.S. in the short term, one of the largest potential markets for the drug; and (viii) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.