Robbins LLP: Vital Therapies, Inc. (VTL) Misled Shareholders According to a Recently Filed Class Action
Robbins LLP announces that a class action complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. The complaint alleges that officers and directors of Vital Therapies, Inc. (NASDAQGS: VTL) violated the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 between April 17, 2014 and August 21, 2015, by making materially false and misleading statements about Vital Therapies’ business prospects. Vital Therapies is a biotherapeutic company that focuses on developing a cell-based therapy for the treatment of acute liver failure in the U.S. Its product candidate, the ELAD System, is an extracorporeal human allogeneic cellular liver treatment designed to allow the patient’s liver to regenerate to a healthy state, or to stabilize the patient until liver transplant. The company’s major studies include: VTI-208, VTI-210, and VTI-212.
Vital Therapies Accused Of Issuing Misleading Information About Its Clinical Trials
According to the complaint, during 2015, Vital Therapies filed an Annual Report on Form 10-K and several Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports said that if the VTI-208 trial was unsuccessful, the company intended to conserve cash to be able to complete the VTI-210 trial. However, these statements were allegedly misleading because they did not disclose that each of the three trials was of stand-alone significance, and that if the VTI-208 study failed, the company would terminate the VTI-210 and VTI-212 studies and would not conserve cash to continue the VTI-210 trial.
The truth was revealed on August 21, 2015, when the company issued a press release announcing that the VTI-208 trial failed to meet the primary endpoint of overall survival through at least 91 days. The company also announced that it will stop the VTI-210 and VTI-212 clinical trials, and plans to meet with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to discuss restructuring its clinical development program. During a conference call held on the same day, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Terry Winters, refused to give a time frame when asked when the VTI-210 and VTI-212 trials would be restarted. On this news, Vital Therapies stock plunged 73.4%, from $17.68 per share on August 21, 2015, to close at $3.65 per share on August 24, 2015.
Vital Therapies Shareholders Have Legal Options
Concerned holders of Series A Preferred Units who would like more information about their rights and potential remedies can contact attorney Darnell R. Donahue at (800) 350-6003, or you can complete the form below and we will contact you directly.