San Diego – August 13, 2024 – Cooley secured a dismissal with prejudice for Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (Aurinia), a Canada-based company focused on developing therapies to treat autoimmune diseases, in a securities class action challenging numerous public statements made over a period of nine months.
The US District Court for the District of Maryland granted Cooley’s motion to dismiss with prejudice, with Judge Brendan A. Hurson agreeing with Cooley’s arguments that the plaintiff failed to plead a material omission and therefore failed to state a claim for a violation of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder.
The plaintiff alleged that Aurinia and its senior executives, Peter Greenleaf and Joseph Miller, fraudulently misled investors by concealing alleged difficulties Aurinia was experiencing in marketing and selling LUPKYNIS, the first US Food and Drug Administration-approved oral drug for the treatment of active lupus nephritis, a serious manifestation of lupus that causes inflammation of the kidneys, affecting primarily people of African, Asian and Hispanic descent, and Native peoples. The suit was filed after Aurinia’s stock price dropped nearly 24% following the announcement of its Q4 and full year 2021 financial results.
The plaintiff relied entirely on the argument that Aurinia’s public statements were materially false and misleading because of “important context” that was allegedly omitted. However, the court firmly rejected the plaintiff’s claims, finding that Aurinia’s disclosures “were sufficient to notify investors of the allegedly omitted information, and that any additional disclosures relating to that information would not have ‘significantly altered the “total mix” of information available.’”
The Cooley team was led by securities litigation and enforcement partners Koji Fukumura and Ryan Blair, with support from associates Heather Speers, Matt Martinez and Jessica Taylor.
The case is Michael J. Ortmann v. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, Inc. et al. (Case No.: 22-1335-BAH).
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