Judge Robert Sweet
Flamel Technologies’ shares trade as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on the NASDAQ. It partnered with GlaxoSmithKline to develop COREG CR. Launched in March 2007 COREG CR was intended to supplant COREG IR, which faced generic competition after patent expiry. A class suit alleged Flamel’s violation Securities Exchange Act §§10(b) and 20(a) through misleading public statements issued between March 23, and Aug. 22, 2007. The price of Flamel’s ADRs plummeted after the results of a so-called CASPER trialshowing that "switching from COREG IR to COREG CR was not associated with better drug taking compliancebecame public. Flamel allegedly knew of the results before March 23. Flamel sought summary judgment after lead plaintiff’s counsel informed it that they could not, in good faith, oppose summary judgment. The court held Flamel entitled to judgment as a matter of law. In addition to undisputed evidence showing that Flamel did not know about the CASPER results before Aug. 20, 2007, the court noted lead plaintiff’s affirmative statement that Flamel was "completely unaware of the results" until the end of the class period. Thus there was no genuine issue of fact and no reasonable jury could find in lead plaintiff’s favor.
