Shuman, Glenn & Stecker announces that it is investigating potential claims against certain officers and directors of Emergent BioSolutions, Inc. (“Emergent” or the “Company”) (NYSE: EBS). Emergent is a biopharmaceutical company that develops vaccines for infectious diseases.
The Firm’s investigation relates to allegations raised in a securities class action lawsuit filed against Emergent and certain of its senior officers in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The lawsuit alleges that Emergent signed deals with Johnson & Johnson (“J&J”) and AstraZeneca to provide contract development and manufacturing organization services for production of those companies’ COVID-19 vaccine candidates, and also received federal government funds in connection with Operation Warp Speed. The lawsuit further alleges that the defendants repeatedly touted Emergent’s ability and capacity to mass manufacture COVID-19 vaccines at its Baltimore, Maryland manufacturing site but failed to disclose myriad issues which would detrimentally affect its ability to do so. In April 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration conducted an inspection which revealed serious problems, including deficient containment areas, necessary technology and personnel upgrades, and inadequate employee training.
On March 31, 2021, media reports revealed that ingredients for the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines were “mixed up” at the Baltimore facility, contaminating up to 15 million doses of J&J’s vaccine. It was further revealed that this was not an isolated incident. By December 2020, Emergent was forced to discard millions of AstraZeneca vaccine doses after they were spoiled by bacterial contamination of equipment. In response, the U.S. Government placed J&J in charge of Emergent’s Baltimore facility and prohibited Emergent from producing the AstraZeneca vaccine. In response, shares of Emergent’s stock price fell by over 15% over the next two trading days to close at $78.62 on April 5, 2021. Emergent’s stock has never recovered and currently trades for approximately $55 per share.
If you currently own Emergent common stock and are interested in discussing your rights, or have information relating to this investigation, please contact Kip Shuman toll free at (866) 569-4531 or email Mr. Shuman at kip@shumanlawfirm.com.
Shuman, Glenn & Stecker represents investors throughout the nation, concentrating its practice in stockholder litigation.
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