NEW YORK, June 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm, reminds investors that class actions have been commenced on behalf of stockholders of Oscar Health, Inc. (NYSE: OSCR), Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AXSM), Humbl, Inc. (OTCMKTS: HMBL), and Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA). Stockholders have until the deadlines below to petition the court to serve as lead plaintiff. Additional information about each case can be found at the link provided.
Oscar Health, Inc. (NYSE: OSCR)
Class Period: March 4, 2021 IPO
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: July 12, 2022
In March 2021, Oscar Health conducted its IPO, selling 36,391,946 shares of Class A common stock at a price of $39.00 per share. The Company received net proceeds of approximately $1.3 billion from the Offering. The proceeds from the IPO were purportedly to be used to repay in full outstanding borrowings, including fees and expenses, under Oscar Health’s Term Loan Facility ($167 million), and the remainder proceeds were to be used for general corporate purposes.
On August 12, 2021, Oscar Health disclosed that the Company’s Medical Loss Ratio (“MLR”) for the second quarter of 2021 was 82.4%, an increase of 2170 basis points year-over year. The Company claimed that “[t]he MLR increased to 82.4% in 2Q21 from 60.7% in 2Q20, primarily driven by meaningfully lower utilization in 2Q20 as a result of COVID-19, as well as higher COVID-19 testing and treatment costs and a return to more normalized utilization in 2Q21.” The Company also disclosed that its net loss for the quarter was $73.1 million, an increase of $32.1 million year-over-year.
Then, on November 10, 2021, Oscar Health disclosed that its third quarter 2021 MLR increased 920 basis points year-over-year, to 99.7%. The Company claimed that the MLR increase was “primarily driven by higher net COVID costs as compared to the net benefit in 3Q20, an unfavorable prior year Risk Adjustment Data Validation (RADV) result, and the impact of significant SEP membership growth.” The Company also disclosed that its net loss for the quarter was $212.7 million, an increase of $133.6 million year-over-year.
During a conference call held the same day, Scott Blackley, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, stated: “We recognized approximately $20 million of risk adjustment expense this quarter related to our risk adjustment data validation audit or RADV results. The RADV exercise is atypical this year due to COVID. It spans two years, 2019 and 2020. The majority of the RADV headwinds relate to the 2019 audit results, which were recently completed.”
On this news, Oscar Health’s share price fell $4.05 per share, or 24.5%, to close at 12.47 per share on November 11, 2021.
By the commencement of this action, Oscar Health stock has traded as low as $5.76 per share, a more than 85% decline from the $39.00 per share IPO price.
The complaint filed in this class action alleges that the Registration Statement was materially false and misleading and omitted to state: (1) that Oscar Health was experiencing growing COVID-19 testing and treatment costs; (2) that Oscar Health was experiencing growing net COVID costs; (3) that Oscar Health would be negatively impacted by an unfavorable prior year Risk Adjustment Data Validation (RADV) result relating to 2019 and 2020; (4) that Oscar Health was on track to be negatively impacted by significant SEP membership growth; and (5) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
For more information on the Oscar Health class action go to: https://bespc.com/cases/OSCR
Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AXSM)
Class Period: December 30, 2019 – April 22, 2022
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: July 12, 2022
Axsome is a biopharmaceutical company that engages in the development of novel therapies for central nervous system disorders in the United States. The Company is developing, among other product candidates, AXS-07, a novel, oral, rapidly absorbed, multi-mechanistic, and investigational medicine for the acute treatment of migraine.
Axsome consistently touted AXS-07’s regulatory and commercial prospects in anticipation of the Company’s submission a New Drug Application (“NDA”) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for AXS-07 for the acute treatment of migraine (the “AXS-07 NDA”) based on the drug’s positive results in two Phase 3 trials. However, unbeknownst to investors, the Company’s preparation and eventual submission of the AXS-07 NDA was plagued with chemistry, manufacturing, and control (“CMC”) issues.
The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Axsome’s CMC practices were deficient with respect to AXS-07 and its manufacturing process; (ii) as a result, Axsome was unlikely to submit the AXS-07 NDA on its initially represented timeline; (iii) the foregoing CMC issues remained unresolved at the time that the FDA reviewed the AXS-07 NDA; (iv) accordingly, the FDA was unlikely to approve the AXS-07 NDA; (v) as a result of all the foregoing, Axsome had overstated AXS-07’s regulatory and commercial prospects; and (vi) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On November 5, 2020, Axsome issued a press release reporting the Company’s third quarter 2020 results. That press release disclosed that the Company “plans to submit the [AXS-07] NDA to the FDA in the first quarter of 2021, versus previous guidance of the fourth quarter of 2020, to allow for inclusion of supplemental manufacturing information to ensure a robust submission package.”
On this news, Axsome’s stock price fell $5.22 per share, or 6.99%, to close at $69.51 per share on November 5, 2020.
Then, on April 25, 2022, Axsome disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that, “[o]n April 22, 2022, Axsome . . . was informed by the [FDA] that [CMC] issues identified during the FDA’s review of the Company’s [NDA] for its AXS-07 product candidate for the acute treatment of migraine are unresolved.” That filing also disclosed that “[b]ased upon the time remaining in the NDA review cycle, the Company expects to receive a Complete Response Letter [(‘CRL’)] with respect to this NDA on or about the Prescription Drug User Fee Act target action date of April 30, 2022.”
On this news, Axsome’s stock price fell $8.60 per share, or 21.99%, to close at $30.50 per share on April 25, 2022.
Finally, on May 2, 2022, Axsome announced that it received a CRL from the FDA regarding the AXS-07 NDA for the acute treatment of migraine. According to the Company, “[t]he principal reasons given in the CRL relate to [CMC] considerations” including “the need for additional CMC data pertaining to the drug product and manufacturing process.”
For more information on the Axsome class action go to: https://bespc.com/cases/AXSM
Humbl, Inc. (OTCMKTS: HMBL)
Class Period: November 1, 2020 – May 19, 2022
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: July 19, 2022
Humbl is a mobile financial services company that offers investors various financial products associated with “Web 3” technology and decentralized finance.
The complaint alleges that Defendants violated provisions of the Exchange Act by making false and misleading statements concerning the Company’s growth prospects, technological advancements, international partnerships, and financial benefits for Humbl common stock and digital asset investors, as well as using selectively timed announcements to keep Humbl stock price high so that Company insiders could sell off their holdings into artificially created volume. The complaint also alleges that Defendants violated provisions of the Securities Act by selling its unregistered securities (BLOCK ETX digital assets) to investors.
On April 25, 2022, the price of the Humbl common stock hit a low of $0.11 per share, down from a price high of $6.84 during the Class Period, which it has not been able to recover. Likewise, the price of BLOCK ETX has dropped over 87% from its height during the Class Period and has not recovered.
For more information on the Humbl class action go to: https://bespc.com/cases/HMBL
Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA)
Class Period: March 5, 2021 – March 22, 2022
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: July 19, 2022
Okta provides identity solutions for enterprises, small and medium-sized businesses, universities, non-profits, and government agencies in the U.S. and internationally. The Company offers a variety of cybersecurity products and services. Following its completed merger with Auth0, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Auth0”), on May 3, 2021 (the “Merger”), Okta began providing additional Auth0 products related to cybersecurity and login solutions.
Throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Okta had inadequate cybersecurity controls; (ii) as a result, Okta’s systems were vulnerable to data breaches; (iii) Okta ultimately did experience a data breach caused by a hacking group, which potentially affected hundreds of Okta customers; (iv) Okta initially did not disclose and subsequently downplayed the severity of the data breach; (v) all the foregoing, once revealed, was likely to have a material negative impact on Okta’s business, financial condition, and reputation; and (vi) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On or around March 21, 2022, hackers known as LAPSUS$ posted screenshots on their Telegram1 channel showing what they claimed was Okta’s internal company environment. Thereafter, on March 22, 2022, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), Defendant Todd McKinnon (“McKinnon”), posted a statement on his Twitter account, disclosing that, “[i]n late January 2022, Okta detected an attempt to compromise the account of a third party customer support engineer working for one of our subprocessors”; that “[t]he matter was investigated and contained by the subprocessor”; that “[w]e believe the screenshots shared online are connected to this January event”; and that, “[b]ased on our investigation to date, there is no evidence of ongoing malicious activity beyond the activity detected in January.”
On this news, Okta’s stock price fell $2.98 per share, or 1.76%, to close at $166.43 per share on March 22, 2022.
Later, on March 22, 2022, during after-market hours, in a statement on Okta’s website, the Company’s Chief Security Officer (“CSO”), Defendant David Bradbury (“Bradbury”), disclosed, inter alia, that “[a]fter a thorough analysis of [the LAPSUS$] claims, we have concluded that a small percentage of customers – approximately 2.5% – have potentially been impacted and whose data may have been viewed or acted upon.”
Following Okta’s updated statement, multiple news outlets reported that hundreds of the Company’s clients were potentially affected by the January 2022 data breach. For example, on March 23, 2022, CNN published an article entitled “Okta concedes hundreds of clients could be affected by breach[,]” noting that, despite the Company’s statement that “a small percentage of customers – approximately 2.5% – have potentially been impacted[,]” the Company “has over 15,000 customers, according to its website.” That same day, Reuters and others published similar reports.
Separately, Okta was downgraded by Raymond James from “strong buy” to “market perform,” noting, among other things, that “[w]hile partners were willing to trust Okta’s track record, the handling of its latest security incident adds to our mounting concerns.”
Following Okta’s after-market update and Raymond James downgrade, the Company’s stock price fell $17.88 per share, or 10.74%, to close at $148.55 per share on March 23, 2022.
As a result of Defendants’ wrongful acts and omissions, and the precipitous decline in the market value of the Company’s securities, Plaintiff and other Class members have suffered significant losses and damages.
For more information on the Okta class action go to: https://bespc.com/cases/OKTA
About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York, California, and South Carolina. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
Contact Information:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.
Brandon Walker, Esq.
Melissa Fortunato, Esq.
(212) 355-4648
investigations@bespc.com
www.bespc.com
