Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, a national investor-rights law firm, is
investigating Galena Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: GALE) (“Galena”) and CytRx
Corporation (NASDAQ: CYTR) for securities fraud following an article
published on TheStreet.com that claimed the companies used deceptive
marketing strategies to inflate stock prices through false and
misleading information, and advises investors of the class-action lead
plaintiff deadlines of May 5, 2014 and May 13, 2014 for Galena and CytRx
cases respectively.
Persons with information or who have suffered financial losses can
contact a Hagens Berman attorney by emailing Galena@hbsslaw.com
or CytRx@hbsslaw.com.
The securities fraud class-action lawsuit filed against Galena on March
5, 2014, on behalf of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired
Galena stock between Nov. 6, 2013 and Feb. 14, 2014 (the “Class
Period”), alleges that biotechnology company Galena paid an
investor relations and stock promotion firm, The DreamTeam Group, to
publish articles under aliases promoting Galena stock without disclosing
they were paid endorsements. The deadline for moving to be lead
plaintiff in the action against Galena is May 5, 2014. For more
information about the suit, please contact Hagens Berman Partner Reed
Kathrein, who is leading the firm’s investigation, by calling
510-725-3000. Additional information is available at http://hb-securities.com/investigations/Galena.
Similarly, a complaint was filed against CytRx, a biopharmaceutical
company, for use of the same investor relations firm in order to
artificially inflate stock prices by disseminating false and misleading
information to the investing public. The case has been filed on behalf
of all individuals who purchased CytRx stock between Nov. 22, 2013 and
March 13, 2014 (the “Class Period”). The deadline for moving to be a
lead plaintiff in the class action against CytRx is May 13, 2014.
Additional information is available at http://hb-securities.com/investigations/CytRx.
The complaint against Galena alleges that the company violated federal
securities laws when it paid DreamTeam to write misleading articles
under aliases without disclosing payment for the articles or any
affiliation with the company. Following the news of Galena’s
alleged false, stock-touting statements, the company’s stock reached a
high of $7.48 per share on Jan. 16, 2014. During this time, its CEO sold
$3.8 million worth of his Galena stock.
The complaint filed against CytRx alleges the company also violated
federal securities laws in the same promotional acts, employing
DreamTeam to spread misleading information in order to inflate the
company’s stock price. According to the complaint, like Gelena, CytRx
also saw allegedly artificially high figures during this promotion from
the investor relations firm, and CytRx’s CEO sold $2.1 million of his
stock during the promotion.
On Feb. 12, 2014, a senior columnist at TheStreet.com published an
article claiming Galena was engaging in a misleading campaign to boost
the company’s stock price. Following the publication of this article,
titled “Galena Biopharma Pays For Stock-Touting Campaign While Insiders
Cash Out Millions,” Galena’s stock price dropped $0.85 per share to
close at $4.34 per share on Feb. 12, 2014, a decline of 16 percent on
volume of nearly 24 million shares, according to the complaint. The
article also led to the unveiling of CytRx’s alleged stock-touting
practices with the same firm.
“It appears that both of these companies were caught red-handed in a
shady stock promotion scheme that put the investments of stakeholders on
the line and proved detrimental to all but the executives of these
companies, who raked in big rewards during this ploy,” said Mr.
Kathrein. “Investigations of both instances appear to implicate the
heads of these companies, and we will fight to make sure greedy and
misleading scams like these are abolished.”
Following the article from TheStreet.com, Galena allegedly published a
statement to shareholders on Feb. 14, 2014, acknowledging that the
Company had engaged DreamTeam. Following this news, Galena’s stock price
dropped another $0.63 per share to close at $3.73 per share on Feb. 14,
2014, a decline of 14 percent on volume of nearly 41 million shares, and
a decline of 50 percent from the stock’s Class Period high, the
complaint states.
Persons with non-public information regarding CytRx and Galena should
consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of
the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new SEC Whistleblower program,
whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards
totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC.
For more information call Reed Kathrein at 415-725-3000 or send email
one of the links above.
About
Hagens Berman
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP is an investor-rights class-action law
firm with offices in nine cities. The Firm represents investors,
whistleblowers, workers and consumers in complex litigation. More about
the law firm and its successes can be found at www.hb-securities.com.
Read the Firm’s Securities Newsletter at http://www.hb-securities.com/newsletter.
The firm’s blog is located at www.meaningfuldisclosure.com.
Copyright Business Wire 2014