Shareholder Class Action Filed Against Chiron Corporation by The Law Firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP
15 Ottobre 2004 - 3:31AM
PR Newswire (US)
Shareholder Class Action Filed Against Chiron Corporation by The
Law Firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP BALA CYNWYD, Pa., Oct. 14
/PRNewswire/ -- The following statement was issued today by the law
firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP: Notice is hereby given that
a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District
Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on behalf of all
securities purchasers of Chiron Corporation (NASDAQ:CHIR) ("Chiron"
or the "Company") from January 12, 2004 through October 13, 2004,
inclusive (the "Class Period"). If you wish to discuss this action
or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or
interests with respect to these matters, please contact Schiffrin
& Barroway, LLP (Marc A. Topaz, Esq. or Darren J. Check, Esq.)
toll free at 1-888-299-7706 or 1-610-667-7706, or via e-mail at .
The complaint charges Chiron, Howard Pien, John Lambert, and David
Smith with violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated there under. Chiron
is a global pharmaceutical company focused on developing products
for cancer and infectious diseases. It commercializes its products
through three business units: blood testing, vaccines and
biopharmaceuticals. Chiron Vaccines offers more than 30 vaccines
including flu, meningococcal, travel and pediatric vaccines.
According to the complaint, the Company failed to disclose and
misrepresented the following material adverse facts which were
known to defendants or recklessly disregarded by them: (1) that
equipment and staff training at the Company's Liverpool plant were
inadequate; (2) that the Company's vaccine manufacturing process
was wrought with microbial and sterility issues; (3) that the
Company's Liverpool plant had systemic quality- control issues
which the Company failed to address in a timely manner; (4) that
the Company's Liverpool plant was not in compliance with British
health and safety regulations; and (5) that as a result of the
above, the defendants' statements about being able to supply 50
million vaccines to the United States was lacking in a reasonable
basis when made. On August 26, 2004, Chiron announced the following
bombshell: that, in conducting final internal release procedures
for its Fluvirin(R) influenza virus vaccine, the company's quality
systems have identified a small number of lots that do not meet
product sterility specifications. Following this announcement,
defendant Pien reiterated Chiron's expectation that Chiron would
supply between 46 million and 48 million Fluvirin(R) influenza
virus vaccine doses to the U.S. market for the 2004-2005 influenza
season, beginning in early October. Then on October 5, 2004, Chiron
shocked the market when it announced "that the UK regulatory body,
the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency ("MHRA"),
has today temporarily suspended the company's license to
manufacture Fluvirin(R) influenza virus vaccine in its Liverpool
facility, preventing the company from releasing any of the product
during the 2004-2005 influenza season. Chiron has not released any
Fluvirin into any territory, and therefore there is no requirement
to recall or withdraw any vaccine." Following this revelation,
shares of Chiron fell $7.44 per share, or 16,38 percent, to close
at $37.98 per share on unusually high trading volume. Thereafter,
on October 11, 2004, The Wall Street Journal reported U.S.
regulators found "deviations" from good manufacturing standards at
Chiron's U.K.-based flu-vaccine plant in June 2003. According the
article, the Food and Drug Administration officials documented
"deviations" from best practices at Chiron's Liverpool plant in the
middle of last year, John Taylor, the FDA's associate commissioner
for regulatory affairs, told the Journal. The regulator said that
"systemic quality-control issues" led inspectors to conclude that
Chiron wouldn't necessarily be able to discover problems, identify
the root cause and take steps to prevent similar issues from
arising again. Then on October 12, 2004, Chiron stated it had
received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office in
New York, seeking documents related to the U.K. authorities'
decision to shut down the manufacturing of its flu vaccine
Fluvirin. The final blow to the Company occurred on October 13,
2004. At about 12:00 noon, The Wall Street Journal reported that
the SEC was launching an informal probe into whether Chiron failed
to properly alert investors to on- going problems with British
regulators. The Company later confirmed that this was in fact true.
News of this sent the stock further down. Shares of Chiron fell
$1.87 per share, or 5.54 percent, on unusually heavy trading volume
on October 13, 2004 to close at $31.87 per share. Plaintiff seeks
to recover damages on behalf of class members and is represented by
the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, which prosecutes class
actions in both state and federal courts throughout the country.
Schiffrin & Barroway is a driving force behind corporate
governance reform, and has recovered in excess of a billion dollars
on behalf of institutional and high net worth individual investors.
For more information about Schiffrin & Barroway, or to sign up
to participate in this action online, please visit
http://www.sbclasslaw.com/ . If you are a member of the class
described above, you may, not later than December 13, 2004 move the
Court to serve as lead plaintiff of the class, if you so choose. 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 Schiffrin & Barroway, or other
counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.
CONTACT: Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP Marc A. Topaz, Esq. Darren
J. Check, Esq. Three Bala Plaza East, Suite 400 Bala Cynwyd, PA
19004 1-888-299-7706 (toll free) or 1-610-667-7706 Or by e-mail at
DATASOURCE: Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP CONTACT: Marc A. Topaz,
Esq., or Darren J. Check, Esq., both of Schiffrin & Barroway,
LLP, +1-888-299-7706, or +1-610-667-7706, or Web site:
http://www.sbclasslaw.com/
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