After three years of vigorous litigation, Berman Tabacco is proud to announce the final approval of a $17.5 million settlement in litigation against Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Portola”). On March 6, 2023, the Honorable Vince Chhabria of the Northern District of California granted final approval to the settlement. Berman Tabacco is the sole Lead Counsel representing Lead Plaintiff Alameda County Employees’ Retirement Association (“ACERA”) in a securities class action suit against Portola, certain former officers and directors, and the underwriters for the company’s secondary public offering. ACERA was joined in prosecuting this action by additional plaintiff Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System.
Portola developed and commercialized treatments for thrombosis and other hematologic diseases. Portola’s primary product was Andexxa, a reversal drug for apixaban- and rivaroxaban-treated patients with life-threatening or uncontrolled bleeding. The action alleged that defendants issued materially false and misleading statements related to the sales of Andexxa in its public statements, including secondary public offering materials. First, the complaint alleged that the company misrepresented that it complied with GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles), where it recognized revenue in violation of relatively new GAAP rule ASC-606 and thus materially under-reserved for returns. Second, the complaint alleged that the company misrepresented customer demand for and utilization of Andexxa for those that purchased it (e.g., hospitals and hospital-system pharmacies), both as to depth (regularity of usage) and breadth (types of bleeds prescribed for).
“Under ACERA’s active leadership, we are happy to have achieved this result following hard-fought litigation,” commented San Francisco Partner Daniel Barenbaum. “This outcome underscores the crucial role that large public funds play in protecting our markets when they commit to acting as lead plaintiff in securities litigation.”
The $17.5 million settlement will provide relief to a class of investors who purchased Portola common stock from January 8, 2019 through February 28, 2020.
The case is Hayden v. Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc., et al., No. 3:20-cv-00367-VC (N.D. Cal.). The Berman Tabacco litigation team included Nicole Lavallee, Daniel E. Barenbaum, Patrick T. Egan, Jeffrey V. Rocha, Christina M. Sarraf, Mackline Bastien, and Berna M. Lee.