Lawyers for a certified class of investors in Juno Therapeutics have announced a $24 million settlement to resolve claims that the biopharmaceutical company’s failure to disclose the death of one of its immunotherapy patients led to a 30 percent drop in its share price. The investors filed suit against the company and two of its top executives in June 2016, alleging that they failed to immediately warn shareholders that their landmark blood cancer treatment caused severe neurotoxicity that had already resulted in the death of one patient during clinical trials. In the months after the patient’s death, the company allegedly touted the drug’s initial success while allowing the company’s CEO and CFO to sell their shares for $10 million. After two more patients died from cerebral edema and the clinical trial was put on hold, Juno disclosed the drug’s risks and its stock price fell more than 30 percent, according to the shareholders.
The case is Veljanoski v. Juno Therapeutics Inc. et al., case number 2:16-cv-01069, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
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