BALA CYNWYD, Pa., Oct. 14 2004 LAWFUEL – Law, class action, legal, attorney news 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
info@sbclasslaw.com.
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 info@sbclasslaw.com
