Hillman v Mayne Pharma Group Ltd

The Mayne Pharma Class Action followed the announcement on 15 December 2016 that the Attorney General of Connecticut had commenced anti-trust civil proceedings against a number of pharmaceutical companies, including Mayne Pharma’s US subsidiary. It is alleged in that proceeding that Mayne Pharma’s US subsidiary, along with other defendants, participated in a conspiracy to restrain trade, inflate the price of generic pharmaceuticals, and reduce competition.

The market responded strongly to this information, with Mayne Pharma’s share price falling around 10% over the following trading days.

The details of the allegations in the class action are set out in the Amended Statement of Claim. In summary the Plaintiff alleged that Mayne Pharma:

contravened its continuous disclosure obligations during the Claim Period by failing to properly inform the market about alleged discussions and agreements its US subsidiary had with Heritage Pharmaceuticals in relation to sales of a product called “Doxy DR”, which were or could be regarded as anti-competitive and contrary to US law, and that subpoenas had been issued by US regulators; and engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct during the Claim Period by maintaining public representations that Mayne was compliant with competition law, had appropriate systems for ensuring compliance, and was not exposed to the risk of reputational, financial or other impacts in the US for non-compliance with competition law The Mayne Pharma Class Action alleged that investors who acquired an interest in fully paid ordinary shares during the Claim Period are entitled to compensation for loss and damage as they paid more for those shares than they would have paid as a consequence of Mayne Pharma’s conduct. The Mayne Pharma Class Action also alleged that some group members would not have purchased Mayne Pharma shares if Mayne Pharma had complied with its obligations.