On September 21, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos of the Southern District of New York dismissed all claims in a putative securities class action against Abiomed Inc. and its CEO and CFO.
The plaintiff filed the litigation after Abiomed, which makes medical devices designed to improve blood flow to the coronary arteries, announced consecutive quarters of slowing revenue growth and its stock price fell. Plaintiff claimed that Abiomed’s alleged corrective disclosures followed several false statements about its growth rate and ability to grow sustainably that violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Plaintiff’s complaint included statements from seven former employee confidential witnesses.
Judge Ramos accepted every one of S&C’s arguments, and held that plaintiff alleged no material misstatement or omission. Instead, he found that Abiomed had provided “robust and specific disclosures.” The court also held that plaintiff failed to raise a strong inference of scienter, and that the confidential witness statements and allegations about core operations and purportedly suspicious stock sales “fell short both individually and collectively.”
The S&C team representing Abiomed included Marc De Leeuw, Lenny Traps, John Hardiman, Riley Hanrahan and Cooper D’Agostino.