INVESTOR ALERT: Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Announces the Filing of a Securities Class Action on Behalf of Athenex, Inc. (ATNX) Investors

BENSALEM, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of investors who purchased Athenex, Inc. (“Athenex” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: ATNX) securities between August 7, 2019 and February 26, 2021, inclusive (the “Class Period”). Athenex investors have until May 3, 2021 to file a lead plaintiff motion.

Investors suffering losses on their Athenex investments are encouraged to contact the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith to discuss their legal rights in this class action at 888-638-4847 or by email to [e-mail].

On March 1, 2021, before the market opened, Athenex disclosed receipt of a Complete Response Letter (“CRL”) from the FDA stating that the NDA would not be approved in its current form. According to the CRL, “the FDA indicated its concern of safety risk to patients in terms of an increase in neutropenia-related sequalae on the Oral Paclitaxel arm compared to the IV paclitaxel arm.” The Company stated that the “FDA also expressed concerns regarding the uncertainty over the results of the primary endpoint of objective response rate (ORR) at week 19 conducted by blinded independent centra review (BICR) [because] the BICR reconciliation and re-read process may have introduced unmeasured bias and influence on the BICR.” As a result, the FDA had recommended that Athenex conduct additional clinical trials and employ certain risk mitigation strategies to improve toxicity.

On this news, the Company’s stock price fell $6.64, or 55%, to close at $5.46 per share on March 1, 2021, thereby injuring investors.

The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) the data included in the Oral Paclitaxel plus Encequidar NDA presented a safety risk to patients in terms of an increase in neutropenia-related sequalae; (2) the uncertainty over the results of the primary endpoint of objective response rate (ORR) at week 19 conducted by BICR; (3) the BICR reconciliation and re-read process may have introduced unmeasured bias and influence on the BICR; (4) the Company’s Phase 3 study that was used to file the NDA was inadequate and not well-conducted in a patient population with metastatic breast cancer representative of the U.S. population, such that the FDA would recommended a new such clinical trial; (5) as a result, it was foreseeable that the FDA would not approve the Company’s NDA in its current form; and (6) as a result, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.

If you purchased Athenex securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020, by telephone at [phone], toll-free at [phone], or by email to [e-mail], or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com.

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