December 18, 2012 (Update) -- On Dec. 13, 2012, before the market opened, Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the results of a a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis that it is partnering with AstraZeneca PLC. Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. said that while the study had two primary objectives and the treatment failed to meet one of two main goals.

Rigel faces a pending lawsuit on behalf of Rigel Pharmaceuticals investors, who purchased their RIGL shares between December 13, 2007 and October 27, 2008, over alleged securities laws violations by Rigel Pharmaceuticals and others. Meanwhile an investigation on behalf of current long term investors of Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL), including those who purchased RIGL shares in 2008 or earlier and continue to hold those shares, was announced.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., located in South San Francisco, California, is a clinical-stage drug development company that discovers and develops small molecule drugs for the treatment of inflammatory/autoimmune diseases, as well as for certain cancers and metabolic diseases. According to the complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California alleges that the Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) and certain of its officers and directors and the underwriters of the Offering violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Securities Act of 1933. The complaint alleges that Rigel was developing a new drug, R788, for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. On December 13, 2007, Rigel issued a press release, which was attached as an exhibit to a Form 8-K filed with the SEC, and held a conference call touting the positive summary results of a then-recently-completed clinical trial of R788 in 189 patients in the U.S. and Mexico (the Study). In response to the announcement of the summary results of the Study, Rigels common stock price more than tripled in one day, from $8 per share to $25.95, so the lawsuit. Subsequently Rigel completed its Secondary Public Offering and Rigel filed a Registration Statement and Prospectus with the SEC. This Registration Statement incorporated by reference Rigels December 13, 2007 press release detailing the results of the Study. The Secondary Public Offering was a financial success for Rigel, as it sold more than 5 million shares of stock to investors at a price of $27 per share, for gross proceeds of $135 million.

Thereafter, so the lawsuit, Rigel continued to tout the positive results of the Phase II clinical trial of R788, while on October 27, 2008 Rigel shocked investors when it presented the full results of the Study at a meeting of the American College of Rheumatology and on an investor conference call. The plaintiff alleges that those results contained adverse information that had been omitted form the Rigels December 13, 2007 press release and Form 8-K, as well as from the Registration Statement and the subsequent presentations. Specifically, so the lawsuit, Rigel disclosed that certain patients in the clinical trial taking the compound experienced an increase in blood pressure and as a result of the release of this news, Rigel stock plummeted from $14.41 to $8.84 $5.57 per share, or 38 percent, to close on October 28, 2008 at $8.84 per share. Shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) traded recently at $8.06 per share, down from a 52weekHigh of $14.75 per share, and $27.40 per share in 2008.

Thereafter, so the lawsuit, Rigel continued to tout the positive results of the Phase II clinical trial of R788, while on October 27, 2008 Rigel shocked investors when it presented the full results of the Study at a meeting of the American College of Rheumatology and on an investor conference call. The plaintiff alleges that those results contained adverse information that had been omitted form the Rigels December 13, 2007 press release and Form 8-K, as well as from the Registration Statement and the subsequent presentations. Specifically, so the lawsuit, Rigel disclosed that certain patients in the clinical trial taking the compound experienced an increase in blood pressure and as a result of the release of this news, Rigel stock plummeted from $14.41 to $8.84 $5.57 per share, or 38 percent, to close on October 28, 2008 at $8.84 per share, on unusually heavy trading volume.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., located in South San Francisco, California, is a clinical-stage drug development company that discovers and develops small molecule drugs for the treatment of inflammatory/autoimmune diseases, as well as for certain cancers and metabolic diseases. Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc reported in 2006 Total Revenue of $33.47million and in 2007 Total Revenue of $12.60million. Shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) traded recently at $8.33 per share, down from a 52weekHigh of $27.18 per share.