Pfizer agrees to pay $67.5 million to settle a shareholder class action

The all-cash settlement was disclosed on November 9, 2012, one month after Pfizer agreed to pay $164 million to settle a separate lawsuit accusing it of misleading investors about clinical trial results for the arthritis drug Celebrex.

Wyeth shares lost more than $7.6 billion of market value on July 24, 2007, after the company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would not approve Pristiq to treat “hot flashes” in post-menopausal women until it learned more about potential heart and liver problems associated with the drug.

Shareholders said Wyeth’s failure to reveal adverse effects sooner caused its stock price to be inflated during the June 26, 2006, to July 24, 2007, class period.  Pfizer bought Wyeth in 2009. Several former Wyeth officials, including onetime Chief Executive Robert Essner, are also defendants in the case.

Pristiq generated $461 million of sales from January to September for Pfizer.  Analysts once hoped annual sales would top $2 billion for the drug, whose chemical name is desvenlafaxine.

 The settlement followed nearly six months of mediation. It requires approval by U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan in Manhattan, who certified the class action in September.  Pfizer’s shares closed Friday at $24.17 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Steve Larson

An experienced trial lawyer who handles both hourly and contingent fee cases, Steve has expertise in class actions, environmental clean-up litigation, antitrust litigation, securities litigation, corporate disputes, intellectual property disputes, unfair competition claims, and disputes involving family wealth. Steve regularly represents individuals and businesses in federal and state court and has obtained class-wide recovery in multiple class actions. A veteran practitioner, Steve’s clients value his creative approach to resolving complex litigation matters.

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