Law suit filed against Nuvelo

A securities class action law suit has been filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York alleging that, in 2006, US drugmaker Nuvelo violated federal securities laws by issuing a series of material misrepresentations to the market, thereby artificially inflating its price.

The law suit has been filed on behalf of shareholders who purchased the common stock and other securities of Nuvelo between January 5, through December 8, 2006, inclusive.

Last year, Nuvelo and German drug major Bayer's co-developed drug candidate alfimeprase missed its primary endpoint in a Phase III trial in acute peripheral arterial occlusion (Marketletter December 18, 2006). The agent failed to achieve sufficient avoidance of open vascular surgery within 30 days of treatment and another Phase III trial in catheter occlusion, known as SONOMA-2, did not meet the endpoint of restoration of function at 15 minutes. In addition, it did not meet key secondary endpoints and the companies suspended enrollment in these ongoing Phase III evaluations until further analyses and discussions with outside experts and regulators are complete.