Decision Diagnostics Corp. (DECN) Misled Shareholders Regarding the Availability of its Blood Test to Detect COVID-19
According to the complaint, throughout the relevant period, defendants claimed that the Company had developed a finger-prick blood test that could detect COVID-19 in less than one minute. Defendants also made representations regarding the Company’s progress towards achieving U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) emergency use authorization (“EUA”) for the test. The truth, however, was that Decision Diagnostics had not developed a viable COVID-19 test, the Company could not meet the FDA’s EUA testing requirements for its purported COVID-19 test, and as a result, misrepresented the timeline within which it would come to market. On December 17, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a complaint against defendants, alleging that they had issued a series of misleading statements that falsely claimed the Company had developed a finger-prick blood test that could detect COVID-19 in less than a minute. The complaint further alleges that these statements created the misleading impression that Decision Diagnostics would soon introduce the COVID-19 test to market, which led to surges in the price and trading volume of the Company’s stock. Following the filing of the SEC’s complaint, Decision Diagnostics’ share price fell 60%, to close at $0.04 per share on December 18, 2020.