Lawsuit Overview
January 6, 2016 - The court granted defendants' motion to dismiss.
August 17, 2015 - Defendants filed a motion to dismiss.
May 19, 2015 - The lead plaintiff filed an amended consolidated complaint.
March 23, 2015 - Lead plaintiff and lead counsel were appointed and all cases were consolidated.
February 2, 2015 - Lead plaintiff motion was filed.
December 4, 2014 - An investor in American Depositary Shares of Sanofi SA (ADS) (NYSE: SNY) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Sanofi SA (ADS) over alleged violations of Federal Securities Laws in connection with certain allegedly false and misleading statements made between February 7, 2013 and December 3, 2014.
According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges on behalf of purchasers of Sanofi SA (ADS) (NYSE: SNY) common shares between February 7, 2013 and December 3, 2014, that the defendants violated Federal Securities Laws.
More specifically, the plaintiff claims that between February 7, 2013 and December 3, 2014 defendants made allegedly false and/or misleading statements and/or allegedly failed to disclose that Sanofi SA (ADS) was making improper payments to healthcare professionals in connection with the sale of pharmaceutical products in violation of federal law, that Sanofi SA (ADS) lacked adequate internal controls over financial reporting, and that as a result of the foregoing, Sanofi SA's (ADS) public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
Sanofi SA (ADS) reported that its annual Total Revenue declined from over 35.95 million EUR to 33.3 billion EUR and that its respective Net Income declined from over 4.96 billion EUR to over 3.71 billion EUR. Shares of Sanofi SA (ADS) (NYSE: SNY) grew from $28.64 per share in August 2010 to as high as $57.29 per share on September 22, 2014.
Then on October 29, 2014, the board of directors of Sanofi SA (ADS) held a meeting Wednesday, October 29 at 8am and decided unanimously to remove Christopher A. Viehbacher as Chief Executive Officer of Sanofi SA (ADS). As a consequence Christopher A. Viehbacher resigned as a director of Sanofi SA (ADS). Sanofi SA (ADS) said that pending the decision on the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer, the Board asked Serge Weinberg to fulfill jointly, as of today and on a temporary basis, the functions of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Shares of Sanofi SA (ADS) (NYSE: SNY) declined to as low as $44.50 per share on October 29, 2014.
On December 3, 2014, it was reported by media outlets that a whistleblower lawsuit against Sanofi SA has been filed in New Jersey by former Sanofi SA (ADS) paralegal Diane Ponte. The suit alleges that Christopher Viehbacher, the recently ousted CEO of Sanofi SA (ADS), and other executives at Sanofi SA (ADS) conducted a scheme in violation of federal law to funnel tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks and other incentives to get Sanofi SA (ADS)'s diabetes drugs prescribed and sold. The lawsuit also claims that Viehbacher was fired by Sanofi SA (ADS)’s board in October in part, because Defendant Viehbacher was involved in the aforesaid illegal and/or fraudulent activity, which allegedly went on over the course of many years. Lastly, the suit alleges that Ponte was fired as a result of whistleblowing activity in retaliation for bringing the scheme to light. These allegations come two years after Sanofi SA (ADS) reached an agreement with the Justice Department and several states to pay $109 million to settle claims that it engaged in kickbacks by giving doctors free samples of an arthritis drug as a means of encouraging them to buy and prescribe the medication.
Shares of Sanofi SA (ADS) (NYSE: SNY) declined to as low as $46.46 per share on December 5, 2014.