Phi Finney McDonald along with William Roberts Lawyers act for the Joint Applicants in a class action in the Federal Court of Australia against Mesoblast Limited (ASX: MSB; NASDAQ: MESO; OTC: MEOBF) (Mesoblast) on behalf of investors who, during the period from 22 February 2018 until the close of trading on 17 December 2020 (inclusive) (Claim Period), acquired:
- An interest in fully paid ordinary shares in Mesoblast listed on the ASX as “MSB” (MSB Shares);
- An interest in certain American Depository Receipts traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol “MESO” (MESO ADRs);
- An interest in securities traded over the counter in the United States with the symbol “MEOBF” (MEOBF OTCs); and/or
- Long exposure to MSB Shares by entering into equity swap confirmations in respect of MSB Shares (MSB Equity Swaps),
(Mesoblast Securities).
The class action is jointly funded by Omni Bridgeway and ICP Funding Pty Ltd along with Investor Claim Partner Pty Ltd (ICP).
Opt Out and Registration
On 20 December 2023, the Court made orders that notice be given to group members in the class action of their right to opt out of the class action or register their interest to participate in the class action.
A copy of those Orders is available here and a copy of the Notice is available here.
The deadline to opt out or register was 5:00pm (AEST) on Friday, 19 April 2024 (the Deadline).
As the Deadline has passed, if you have not already registered then you may not be entitled to benefit from any settlement of the Mesoblast Class Action without further order of the Court.
However, you may still confirm your details and interest in participating in any settlement of the Mesoblast Class Action by visiting
https://portal.omnibridgeway.com/cases/register/mesoblast-overview, selecting ‘REGISTER’, and completing the online form.
If there is a proposed settlement, the Joint Applicants’ lawyers may apply to the Court for orders at the appropriate time that persons who sought to register after the Deadline be allowed to benefit from the proposed settlement.
Background
On 19 October 2022, the Court ordered by consent that the class action commenced by Phi Finney McDonald against Mesoblast (Oil Surveillance Australia Pty Ltd ATF D.A Lynch Superfund v Mesoblast Limited) be consolidated with the class action commenced by William Roberts Lawyers against Mesoblast. The consolidated class action is now known as Paul Tibor Horsky and Oil Surveillance Australia Pty Ltd ATF D.A Lynch Superfund v Mesoblast Limited (ACN 109 431 870) (VID268/2022).
The consolidated class action is jointly funded by Omni Bridgeway and ICP and Phi Finney McDonald and William Roberts are the joint lawyers on the record.
The consolidated class action arises in relation to Mesoblast’s statements to the market regarding the potential application of its Remestemcel-L (R-L) product for:
- children with steroid refractory acute Graft versus Host Disease (SR-aGVHD); and
- patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by COVID-19 (COVID-19 ARDS).
On 11 August 2020, following the US Food and Drug Admission’s (FDA) release of information for the FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee meeting to discuss the use of R-L for SR-aGVHD, Mesoblast’s share price fell by approximately 31%.
On 02 October 2020, following the announcement by Mesoblast that it had received a complete response letter from the FDA requiring Mesoblast to perform further work in relation to establishing the efficacy of R-L for the treatment of SR-aGVHD before it would grant a marketing licence, Mesoblast’s share price fell by approximately 37%.
On 18 December 2020, following the announcement that the Data Safety Monitoring Board had advised that the Phase 3 COVID-19 ARDS trial for the use of R-L was not likely to meet its mortality reduction endpoint, Mesoblast’s share price fell by approximately 36%.
Allegations
The consolidated class action alleges that Mesoblast breached its continuous disclosure obligations and engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct by:
- misrepresenting the efficacy and potential benefit of treating patients suffering from SR-aGVHD or COVID-19 ARDS with R-L;
- misrepresenting the significance of trial results, including the relevance of earlier studies, post hoc analysis and data collated for controls and contrast;
- not disclosing to the market material information, including the deficiencies in the study design and statistics presented; and
- not disclosing all information required for investors to be able to reasonably assess the likelihood of whether R-L would be shown to be effective in treating SR-aGVHD or COVID-19 ARDS, and then be commercialised on that basis.
The consolidated class action alleges that the price of Mesoblast Securities was artificially inflated during the Claim Period by the above conduct and that investors suffered loss and damage by reason of the acquisition of Mesoblast Securities at those inflated prices.
Key Documents