Labaton Sucharow LLP is the Court-appointed Lead Counsel for the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds in In re Amgen Inc. Securities Litigation, No. CV07-2536 (C.D. Cal.), a securities fraud class action alleging that biotech giant Amgen Inc. (AMGN) and certain of its directors and officers engaged in a scheme to deceive the investing public about the true value of Amgen stock. The scheme centers on statements and omissions concerning two of Amgen's flagship products, Epogen® and Aranesp® -- drugs in a class known as erythropoiesis-stimulating agents or ESAs. ESAs stimulate the production of red blood cells that transport oxygen from the lungs to the tissues of the body and are approved for the purpose helping certain categories of anemic patients (e.g., kidney failure patients on dialysis, cancer patients receiving chemotherapy) avoid transfusions.

In October 2007, Labaton Sucharow filed a Consolidated Amended Complaint against Amgen and several individual defendants. On February 4, 2008, United States District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez denied a motion to dismiss the Consolidated Amended Complaint filed by Amgen and four current or former executives who were alleged to have made false and misleading statements (other executives, who did not make statements alleged to have been misleading, were dismissed from the case). On August 12, 2009, the Court certified the proposed class. The defendants have petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for leave to file an interlocutory appeal of the order granting class certification. The Ninth Circuit has not yet ruled on whether it will permit the defendants to pursue an interlocutory appeal. In the meantime, Labaton Sucharow is pursuing discovery against the defendants.