On March 9, 2018, Pomerantz LLP was appointed Co-Lead Counsel in a class action lawsuit against Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. ("Ocular" or the "Company") and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, District of New Jersey, and docketed under 17-cv-05095, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Ocular securities, seeking to recover compensable damages caused by defendants' violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Ocular, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies for diseases and conditions of the eye using its proprietary hydrogel platform technology in the United States. The Company's lead product is DEXTENZA, which is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of post-surgical pain and inflammation, allergic conjunctivitis; and in Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of inflammatory dry eye disease.
The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Ocular was experiencing significant manufacturing issues with respect to DEXTENZA, including that more than 50% of lots manufactured by Ocular Therapeutix contained bad product; (ii) such manufacturing issues could imperil DEXTENZA's approval by the FDA; and (iii) as a result of the foregoing, Ocular's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On July 6, 2017, shortly before the end of the trading day, the website Seeking Alpha published an article entitled "Ocular: A Poke In The Eye", reporting, in part, that the Company's management had misled Ocular investors regarding ongoing manufacturing issues and downplayed the significance of U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") communications regarding these issues.
On that same day, STAT published an article on the Company asserting that DEXTENZA could be rejected by the FDA because of product contamination, including aluminum, found by an FDA inspector during a visit to Ocular's manufacturing facility.
On this news, Ocular's share price fell $3.06 or over 30% over two trading days, to close at $7.12 on July 7, 2017.