Robbins Umeda LLP Announces the Filing of a Class Action Lawsuit Against Metabolix, Inc.

Robbins Umeda LLP announces the filing of a federal securities class action by an investor in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on behalf of purchasers of Metabolix, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLX) shares between March 10, 2010 and January 12, 2012 (the "Class Period").  Concerned shareholders who would like more information about their rights and potential remedies can complete the form below and we will contact you directly.  You can also contact attorney Gregory E. Del Gaizo at (800) 350-6003.

Metabolix is a bioscience company that claims to focus on bringing environmentally friendly solutions to the plastics, chemicals and energy industries.  The company's largest platform, commercialized through Telles LLC, a joint venture with Archer-Daniels-Midland Company ("ADM"), is a polyhydroxyalkanoate ("PHA") bioplastics product called Mirel. Through Telles, Metabolix promoted these bioplastics as biobased and biodegradable, but functionally equivalent, alternatives to petroleum-based plastics.

The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, certain officers at Metabolix issued a series of false and misleading statements to investors regarding the company's business and prospects.  Specifically, it is alleged that officers misrepresented and/or failed to disclose that: (1) the company's Telles joint venture with ADM would not meet its commercial phase benchmark as early as mid-2010, or even in 2011, and that as a result the company would not receive royalties or payments from services related to Telles; (2) that Mirel was not a commercially viable product that would offer value to Metabolix and its shareholders; and (3) that as a result of these facts, Metabolix and its officers lacked a reasonable basis for their positive statements about the company and its prospects. 

On January 12, 2012, Metabolix issued a press release announcing that ADM had given notice that it was terminating the Telles joint venture.  ADM disclosed that their decision was the result of uncertainty about Telles' projected capital and production costs, ongoing concerns about the rate of market adaption of the venture's products, and the inability of the joint venture to deliver sufficient results in a reasonable time frame.  On this news, shares of Metabolix declined by approximately 57% to close on January 13, 2012, at a multi-year low of only $2.54 per share.

Robbins Umeda LLP is a nationally recognized leader in securities litigation and shareholder rights law.  The firm represents individual and institutional investors in shareholder derivative and securities class action lawsuits, and has helped its clients realize more than $1 billion of value for themselves and the companies in which they have invested.