Allergan Wins Summary Judgment in Securities Fraud Class Action Featuring Expert Reports from Analysis Group Affiliates

January 5, 2023

Analysis Group was retained by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton on behalf of Allergan, the defendant in a securities fraud litigation. The plaintiffs – a certified class of investors who bought Allergan shares between January 2017 and December 2018 – claimed that Allergan misrepresented whether its Biocell textured breast implants had purportedly higher rates of breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL), a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, than textured breast implants made by other manufacturers. The plaintiffs sought to demonstrate that Allergan’s alleged misrepresentations constituted violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) and Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act.

Analysis Group teams led by Managing Principals Gaurav Jetley and Jee-Yeon Lehmann, Principal Brian Ellman, and Vice Presidents Sumon Mazumdar, Federico Mantovanelli, and Luxi Wang supported three affiliated experts who served expert reports and testified at deposition on behalf of Allergan. Marguerite Brackley evaluated information regarding the safety of Allergan’s textured breast implants that had been communicated by and between Allergan and regulators over time to determine whether there was any evidence that Allergan should have anticipated the recall; Daniel Scharfstein evaluated the scientific literature on BIA-ALCL in textured implants, including study design and data quality; and Carl Seiden analyzed the materiality of the alleged omissions, given the mix of public information contemporaneously available to Allergan’s investors.

A judge in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment in the matter, finding that Allergan’s statements were true, did not constitute omissions, and did not violate any provisions of the Securities Exchange Act.