LOS ANGELES, April 13, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Glancy Binkow & Goldberg LLP – representing shareholders of Cell Therapeutics, Inc. – announces that the Class Period has been expanded in the shareholder lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.
All persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired the securities of Cell Therapeutics, Inc. ("Cell Therapeutics" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:CTIC) between May 5, 2009 and March 19, 2010, inclusive (the "Class Period"), including purchasers of the securities issued pursuant or traceable to the Company's public offering on or about July 23, 2009, may move the Court not later than May 11, 2010, to serve as lead plaintiff; however, you must meet certain legal requirements.
A copy of the Complaint is available from the court or from Glancy Binkow & Goldberg LLP. Please contact us by phone to discuss this action or to obtain a copy of the Complaint at (310) 201-9150 or Toll Free at (888) 773-9224, by email at shareholders@glancylaw.com, or visit our website at http://www.glancylaw.com.
The Complaint charges Cell Therapeutics and certain of the Company's executive officers and/or directors, among others, with violations of federal securities laws. Cell Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, acquires and commercializes oncology products for the treatment of cancer. The Company's drug pixantrone, a Phase III single-agent clinical trial product for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and various other hematologic malignancies, solid tumors and immunological disorders, was being developed under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) – an agreement between the Company and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) concerning the design and size of clinical trials intended to form the primary basis of an efficacy claim for a new drug application. The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants knew or recklessly disregarded that their public statements concerning Cell Therapeutics' business, operations and prospects were materially false and misleading. Specifically, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose material adverse information concerning pixantrone, including that: (a) the SPA was invalidated in March 2008 when the Company stopped enrollment in the pixantrone study before it was fully enrolled; (b) the Company's pixantrone study enrolled a large number of patients who did not suffer from aggressive Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; (c) more patients suffered serious adverse events in the study's pixantrone arm than in the comparator arm; and (d), as a result of the foregoing, defendants lacked a reasonable basis for their positive statements about the Company's business, operations and prospects. The Complaint further alleges that, as a result of defendants' misrepresentations and/or failures to disclose, Cell Therapeutics securities traded at artificially inflated levels throughout the Class Period.
On February 8, 2010, the FDA issued a Briefing Document assessing pixantrone in advance of a February 10, 2010, advisory panel meeting. The agency stated that Cell Therapeutics' SPA was invalidated in March 2008 and that the pixantrone study results were not meeting the FDA's standards for approval.
Then, on March 22, 2010, the Company announced that the FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted unanimously that Cell Therapeutics' clinical trial data was not adequate to support approval of pixantrone for patients with relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. As a result of this news, Cell Therapeutics' stock price declined $0.44 per share, or approximately 48%, from the previous day's closing price of $0.91 per share, to close on March 22, 2010, at $0.47 per share, on extremely heavy volume of more than 119 million shares traded.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of class members and is represented by Glancy Binkow & Goldberg LLP, a law firm with significant experience in prosecuting class actions, and substantial expertise in actions involving corporate fraud.
If you are a member of the class described above, you may move the Court, no later than May 11, 2010, to serve as lead plaintiff. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this Notice or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Michael Goldberg, Esquire, of Glancy Binkow & Goldberg LLP, 1801 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 311, Los Angeles, California 90067, by telephone at (310) 201-9150 or Toll Free at (888) 773-9224, by e-mail to shareholders@glancylaw.com, or visit our website at http://www.glancylaw.com.