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Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc and certain of its officers and directors. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, and docketed under 22-cv-07030, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired: (a) Centessa American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”) pursuant and/or traceable to the Offering Documents (defined below) issued in connection with the Company’s initial public offering conducted on or about May 28, 2021 (the “IPO” or “Offering”); and/or (b) Centessa securities between May 28, 2021 and June 1, 2022, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”). Plaintiff pursues claims against the Defendants under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”).
If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Centessa ADSs pursuant and/or traceable to the Offering Documents for the Company’s IPO, and/or Centessa securities during the Class Period, you have until November 28, 2022 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
Centessa is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company that purports to discover, develop, and deliver medicines to patients. The Company’s development pipeline includes, among other products, lixivaptan, a vasopressin V2 receptor small molecule inhibitor in Phase 3 clinical development for the treatment of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (“ADPKD”); and ZF874, a small molecule pharmacological chaperone folding corrector of the Z variant of the DNA encoding protein alpha-1-antitrypsin (“A1AT”), which is in Phase 1 clinical development for the treatment of A1AT deficiency (“AATD”).
On April 21, 2021, Centessa filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in connection with the IPO, which, after several amendments, was declared effective by the SEC on May 27, 2021 (the “Registration Statement”).
On or about May 28, 2021, Centessa conducted the IPO, issuing 16.5 million of its ADSs to the public at the Offering price of $20 per ADS, for proceeds of $306.9 million to the Company after expenses and applicable underwriting discounts.
On June 1, 2021, Centessa filed a prospectus on Form 424B4 with the SEC in connection with the IPO, which incorporated and formed part of the Registration Statement (the “Prospectus” and, collectively with the Registration Statement, the “Offering Documents”).
The complaint alleges that the Offering Documents were negligently prepared and, as a result, contained untrue statements of material fact or omitted to state other facts necessary to make the statements made not misleading and were not prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations governing their preparation. Additionally, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, the Offering Documents and Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) lixivaptan was less safe than Defendants had represented; (ii) Defendants overstated lixivaptan’s clinical and commercial prospects; (iii) ZF874 was less safe than Defendants had represented; (iv) Defendants overstated ZF874’s clinical and commercial prospects while downplaying the drug’s safety issues; and (v) as a result, the Offering Documents and the Company’s public statements throughout the Class Period were materially false and/or misleading and failed to state information required to be stated therein.
On November 1, 2021, Centessa issued a press release announcing results from the Phase 1 study evaluating ZF874 in treating AATD, including, among other results, potential safety issues related to increases in liver enzymes alanine aminotransferase (“ALT”) and aspartate aminotransferase (“AST”) in one of the study subjects.
On this news, Centessa’s ADS price fell $3.19 per share, or 18.55%, to close at $14.01 per share on November 1, 2021.
On June 2, 2022, Centessa issued a press release “announc[ing] that it has made the strategic decision to discontinue development of lixivaptan for [ADPKD,]” citing “a recent observation of [ALT] and [AST] elevations in one subject” from a Phase 3 study of lixivaptan that was designed to assess liver and non-liver safety in certain subjects.
On this news, Centessa’s ADS price fell $1.25 per share, or 27.78%, to close at $3.25 per share on June 2, 2022.
Then, on August 10, 2022, Centessa issued a press release “announc[ing] its decision to discontinue development of ZF874 following a recent report of an adverse event (AE) involving elevated liver enzymes (AST/ALT) in a . . . subject dosed with 5 mg/kg BID of ZF874 in the Phase 1 study.” Centessa stated that “[b]ased on the results observed to date, the Company concluded that ZF874 was unlikely to achieve the desired target product profile.”
On this news, Centessa’s ADS price fell $0.26 per share, or 5.19%, to close at $4.75 per share on August 10, 2022, representing a total decline of 76.25% from the $20.00 per ADS Offering price.
As of the time the complaint was filed, Centessa’s ADS price continues to trade significantly below the $20.00 per ADS Offering price, damaging investors.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com
CONTACT:
Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz LLP
rswilloughby@pomlaw.com
888-476-6529 ext. 7980
