Acadia securities litigation moves towards trial as Court denies defendants’ motion for summary judgment in full
SAN DIEGO — Scott+Scott this week defeated a motion for summary judgment in a securities class action against Acadia Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and several of the company’s top executives. Judge William Q. Hayes of the United States District Court of the Southern District of California denied the defendants’ motion in full while also largely turning down the defendants’ Daubert motion to exclude key plaintiff-side experts.
The lawsuit first filed in April 2021 alleges that the defendants misled investors in relation to the FDA’s requirements for approval of a new a dementia drug. The Court also concluded that there was disputed evidence showing that defendants’ executives understood the requirement, made substantial and out-of-character stock sales, and edited public statements to downplay the importance of critical dementia drug research data.
When drug approval was ultimately denied Arcadia’s share price dropped causing significant financial losses for investors who purchased the company’s common stock between September 9, 2019, and April 4, 2021.
The case is now set to proceed to trial.
The case is: City of Birmingham Relief and Retirement System et al. v. Acadia Pharmaceuticals, Inc., No. 3:21-cv-00762-WQH-MSB (D. S. Ca.)