Shih v. Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Background

Oliver Shih filed a proposed securities class action on behalf of people who purchased Amylyx securities during the period from November 11, 2022, through November 8, 2023. The complaint alleges violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5.

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act requires notice to proposed class members after a securities class action is filed. The notice must describe the lawsuit, the claims, and the proposed class period. A proposed class member may then ask the court to appoint that person as lead plaintiff, meaning the person who will represent the proposed class in the litigation.

Court’s order

Plaintiff’s counsel notified the court that the required notice was published on February 9, 2024. The court therefore set April 9, 2024, as the deadline for members of the proposed class to move for appointment as lead plaintiff. The court set April 16, 2024, as the deadline to serve and file opposition to any lead-plaintiff motion.

The court also ordered that, if an amended complaint or related case was filed before appointment of a lead plaintiff, plaintiff’s counsel must submit a letter within one week identifying differences between the new and original allegations, including differences in the claims or proposed class periods, and explaining why the court should not require a new publication of notice and a new lead-plaintiff deadline. The named plaintiffs were ordered to promptly serve a copy of the order on each defendant.

Disposition and significance

Judge Arun Subramanian entered a case-management order governing notice, lead-plaintiff applications, possible republication of notice, and service on defendants. The order does not decide whether the securities allegations are legally or factually correct.