Class Action Suit Filed Against Amgen Inc. and Its
Officers Alleging Misrepresentations, False Financial
Statements and Insider Trading
Business Wire - August 10, 1998 20:09
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 10, 1998--A securities class action has been commenced
in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of purchasers of Amgen
Inc. ("Amgen") (NASDAQ:AMGN) common stock during the period January 23, 1997 to August
11, 1997 (the "Class Period").
The complaint charges Amgen and certain of its officers with violations of the securities laws.
The complaint alleges that Amgen and several of its senior executives issued false statements
between January 23, 1997 and August 11, 1997 regarding: (i) the demand for and sales growth of
Amgen's two flagship products, Epogen and Neupogen, blockbuster billion-dollar drugs that
had made Amgen a successful biotech company and enabled it to report strong earnings per
share ("EPS") growth in the past; (ii) an arbitration proceeding between Amgen and Johnson &
Johnson regarding entitlement to millions of dollars in "spill-over" sales of Epogen; and (iii)
Amgen's 4thQ 1996 and 1stQ and 2ndQ 1997 results.
These positive representations, financial statements and forecasts were false and artificially
inflated Amgen's stock from $52-1/2 in mid- January 1997 to $69-3/8 in May 1997 and kept it
trading at more than $58 per share through the end of the Class Period, enabling (i) top Amgen
executives to sell 525,595 shares of their Amgen stock, 40 percent - 98 percent of their individual
and 62 percent of their collective stock ownership, for $32.4 million in proceeds; and (ii) Amgen
to avoid a huge loss of up to $158 million on speculative put option contracts on Amgen stock,
which would have been triggered had Amgen's stock fallen below $58 when those put options
expired in early August 1997. |
