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Securities
Discovery Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ: DSCO)
On July 25, 2006, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued an order appointing our client, the Mizla Group, as lead plaintiff in In re Discovery Laboratories Securities Litigation, No. 06-1820 (SD). The Court also approved the appointment of Chimicles & Tikellis as lead counsel.
Discovery Laboratories, Inc. ("Discovery Labs" or the "Company") is a development stage biotechnology company, which is focused upon proprietary surfactant technology. Surfactants are produced naturally in the lungs and are essential for breathing. The Company's technology is intended to produce a precision-engineered surfactant that is designed to closely mimic the essential properties of natural human lung surfactant; this technology is intended for use as surfactant replacement therapies for respiratory diseases. The Company's lead product, Surfaxin® (lucinactant) was undergoing review by the FDA as part of a new drug application as a potential treatment to prevent respiratory distress syndrome in infants. Surfaxin was also under review by the European Medicines Evaluation Agency for approval in Europe.
The District Court ordered the filing of a Consolidated Amended Complaint, and on August 10, 2006, we filed the Consolidated Amended Complaint. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss the Consolidated Amended Complaint, and, in an order dated November 1, 2006, the district court granted that motion will giving plaintiffs leave to an amended complaint.
On November 30, 2006, we filed the Second Consolidated Amended Complaint. This complaint alleges claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 against Discovery Labs, Robert J. Capetola, its Chief Executive Officer and Christopher J. Schaber, its former Chief Operating Officer. The Second Consolidated Amended Complaint is brought on behalf of a proposed class, which is defined as all persons who purchased common stock of Discovery Labs between March 15, 2004 and June 6, 2006 (the "Class"). Excluded from the Class are defendants, members of their families, and the directors and officers of Discovery Labs and its subsidiaries.
Defendants filed a renewed motion to dismiss, and on March 15, 2007, the district court granted the motion to dismiss. We have filed an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. On July 2, 2007, we filed our opening brief on appeal. Defendants filed their brief on August 6, 2007 [link] and we filed a reply brief on August 20, 2007.
At this point, all of the briefing is concluded, and we are waiting for the Court of Appeals to calendar the case. Once the case is calendared, it will be assigned to a three judge panel, which will then decide whether it will have oral argument or decide the case on the briefs.
For further information, you may contact:
James R. Malone, Jr. (JamesMalone@chimicles.com)
Joseph G. Sauder (JosephSauder@chimicles.com)
Chimicles & Tikellis LLP
One Haverford Center
Haverford, PA 19041
1-866-399-2487
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