© Reuters. File photo: A sign outside the Bristol-Myers Squibb facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, May 20, 2021. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Wednesday accused investors of defrauding investors who were due to receive $6.4 billion if a drug developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb received federal approval by a specified deadline. , dismissed the lawsuit against Bristol-Myers Squibb. Celgene Corporation (Nasdaq:).
In connection with its $80.3 billion acquisition of Celgene in 2019, Bristol-Myers said that if it obtains timely approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its Brayange cancer drug and two anti-cancer agents, it will “condition had agreed to pay Celgene shareholders who hold “valued rights” $9 per share in cash. other drugs.
Rights holders have accused Bristol-Myers of failing to provide the FDA with critical information and failing to prepare factories and inspections to delay approval and avoid paying $6.4 billion. Deadline March 2021.
But Manhattan U.S. District Court Judge Jesse Fuhrman found no evidence of intent to defraud.
He said there was no evidence that Bristol-Myers executives attempted to profit financially from the delay, and even the company’s “mismanagement” does not amount to fraud.
“A related question is whether the allegations in the complaint support the inference that the defendant executives knew (or should have known) of the alleged negligence,” he wrote. “
An attorney for the investor did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bristol’s Myers and her attorney did not immediately respond to similar requests. Furman said investors can refile some of the claims in an amended complaint.
Bristol-Myers faces another lawsuit bringing similar claims in federal court in Manhattan by a trustee representing former Celgene shareholders, and a third lawsuit making similar claims in New York state court in Manhattan. ing.
The New York-based company won FDA approval of Breyanzi to treat non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma on February 5, 2021.
The case is Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:) Co CVR Securities Litigation, United States District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 21-08255.