Intersegment Revenue
Revenue for the contract research segment included $2,218 and $3,927 for services performed on behalf of the therapeutics segment for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. All intersegment revenue has been eliminated in the Company’s condensed consolidated statement of operations.
17. Legal Proceedings
Securities Class Action
On July 30, 2019, plaintiff Linda Rosi (“Rosi”) filed a putative class action complaint captioned Rosi v. Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc., et al. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against the Company and certain of its executive officers. The complaint alleges that the defendants violated federal securities laws by, among other things, failing to disclose an alleged likelihood that regulators would scrutinize advertising materials related to ESKATA and find that the materials minimized the risks or overstated the efficacy of the product. The complaint seeks unspecified compensatory damages on behalf of Rosi and all other persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired the Company’s securities between May 8, 2018 and June 20, 2019.
On September 5, 2019, an additional plaintiff, Robert Fulcher (“Fulcher”), filed a substantially identical putative class action complaint captioned Fulcher v. Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc., et al. in the same court against the same defendants.
On November 6, 2019, the court consolidated the Rosi and Fulcher actions (together, the “Consolidated Securities Action”) and appointed Fulcher “lead plaintiff” for the putative class.
On January 24, 2020, Fulcher filed a consolidated amended complaint in the Consolidated Securities Action, naming two additional executive officers as defendants, extending the putative class period to August 12, 2019, and adding allegations concerning, among other things, alleged statements and omissions throughout the putative class period concerning ESKATA’s risks, tolerability and effectiveness. The defendants’ deadline to answer, move against or otherwise respond to the consolidated amended complaint was originally scheduled for March 27, 2020, but was extended until April 17, 2020. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss the consolidated amended complaint on April 17, 2020.
The Company and the other defendants dispute plaintiffs’ claims in the Consolidated Securities Action and intend to defend the matter vigorously.
Stockholder Derivative Action
On November 15, 2019, plaintiff Keith Allred (“Allred”) filed a derivative stockholder complaint captioned Allred v. Walker et al. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against certain of the Company’s directors and executive officers. The complaint alleges that the defendants, among other things, breached their fiduciary duties as directors and/or officers in connection with the claims alleged in the Consolidated Securities Action. The complaint seeks, among other things, unspecified compensatory damages on behalf of the Company.
On November 25, 2019, an additional plaintiff, Bruce Brown (“Brown”), filed a substantially identical complaint captioned Brown v. Walker et al. in the same court against the same defendants.
On December 12, 2019, the court consolidated the Allred and Brown actions under the caption In re Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. Derivative Litigation (the “Consolidated Derivative Action”) and directed that future derivative cases filed in or transferred to the court arising out of substantially the same transactions or events be similarly consolidated. Thereafter, on January 11, 2020, the court stayed – subject to certain conditions – all deadlines in the