Antigenics Sues Piper Jaffray Over Research Threat
Thursday February 13, 12:47 pm ET
By Colleen DeBaise, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Antigenics Inc. (NasdaqNM:AGEN - News) filed a lawsuit claiming Piper Jaffray threatened to drop research coverage when Antigenics considered a rival firm to manage a $60 million stock offering.
Piper Jaffray, which is owned by U.S. Bancorp was fined $300,000 by the National Association of Securities Dealers last year over the same alleged incident. The firm settled the regulatory matter without admitting or denying any wrongdoing.
Antigenics' suit, filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, seeks an unspecified amount in punitive damages from Piper Jaffray.
Antigenics, a New York biotech concern, says Piper Jaffray followed through with its threats and discontinued analyst coverage in January 2002, two days after Antigenics announced UBS Warburg (News - Websites) would serve as lead underwriter.
The NASD settlement didn't address a related charge outlined in Antigenics' suit, that Piper Jaffray analyst Peter Ginsberg criticized Antigenics during the UBS-led offering, hurting the company's stock price and eventually reducing the proceeds from the stock sale.
A Piper Jaffray spokeswoman wasn't immediately available for comment.
In an interview, Antigenics Chief Executive Dr. Garo Armen said the company and its shareholders were harmed when Piper dropped research after failing to win lucrative investment-banking business.
"We were specifically victimized because of this conflict of interest," he said. "Because they pulled their recommendation, it appeared that there was something wrong with our company."
Despite the NASD settlement, "there's been no full court press exploration of what happened," he said. |
