SAN FRANCISCO, April 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Hagens Berman
Sobol Shapiro LLP an investor-rights law firm with offices in
San Francisco has intensified its
investigation on behalf of Galena Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: GALE)
("Galena" or "the Company") in light of the May 5, 2014 deadline to file for lead plaintiff
in the securities fraud cases against the company. Investors who
purchased Galena stock between May 9,
2013 and March 17, 2014 (the
"Class Period") can contact Hagens Berman
Partner Reed Kathrein, who is leading the firm's
investigation, by calling 510-725-3000, emailing Galena@hbsslaw.com
or visiting http://hb-securities.com/investigations/Galena.
The complaints, which were filed in the U.S. District Court for
the District of Oregon, will
likely be consolidated into one class action upon appointment of
the lead plaintiff, and generally allege that unbeknownst to
investors, Galena hired The DreamTeam Group and Mission IR, two
affiliated promotional agents, to inflate the value of Galena
common stock during the Class Period. The 240-day endeavor, which
ended in March 2014, was anchored by
a campaign of planting fraudulent analyst reports and news articles
that touted the company, its product pipeline and a drug marketed
and manufactured by the company, Abstral, according to the
complaints.
The complaints state that in many instances, these fraudulent
media reports were written under aliases. In all instances, the
authors never disclosed that they were paid by DreamTeam to write
these media reports or that Galena executives had complete
editorial control over their work, the complaints state. The
publication of these fraudulent media reports coincided with
positive company announcements, such as successful clinical trials
and the launch of Abstral, so as to have maximum impact upon
Galena's share price, complaints state.
Galena's officers and directors sold nearly $10 million worth of Galena stock during the
period when Galena's stock price was artificially inflated, the
complaints allege.
On March 17, 2014 Galena revealed
that the company learned in February of an SEC investigation
involving "certain matters related to our company and an outside
investor-relations firm that we retained in 2013." Galena's shares
dropped more than nine percent in after-hours trading following the
company's announcement of the SEC investigation. Galena stock
continues to trade below previous figures, closing at $1.74 on April 15,
2014.
"If true, defendant's hiring of The DreamTeam Group to promote
the company through a front of undisclosed writers seriously
undermines the credibility of management," said Mr. Kathrein. "Even
worse, it appears to have been a clear attempt to inflate Galena's
stock price in a classic 'pump and dump' manner."
The deadline to file for lead plaintiff in the securities fraud
class action is May 5, 2014.
Persons with non-public information regarding Galena should
consider their options to help in the investigation or take
advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new SEC
Whistleblower program, whistleblowers who provide original
information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any
successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call
Reed Kathrein at 510-725-3000 or
email one of the links above.
About Hagens Berman
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP is an investor-rights
class-action law firm with offices in nine cities. The Firm
represents investors, whistleblowers, workers and consumers in
complex litigation. More about the law firm and its successes can
be found at www.hb-securities.com. Read the firm's Securities
Newsletter at http://www.hb-securities.com/newsletter. The
firm's blog is located at www.meaningfuldisclosure.com.
Contacts
Firmani + Associates
Mark Firmani, 206-443-9357
mark@firmani.com
SOURCE Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP