A group of investors has filed a class action lawsuit against pharmaceutical company Ventyx, asserting the company misled the public and investors about the effectiveness of their plaque psoriasis medication when they first issued stock, leading to investor losses.
On March 1, named plaintiff Omer Yuksel filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California against Ventyx Biosciences and affiliated individual defendants identified as Raju Mohan, Martin Auster, William J. Sandborn, Sheila Gujrathi, Jigar Choksey, Richard Gaster, Aaron Royston, Somasundaram Subramaniam and William White.
The lawsuit was filed by attorney Jennifer Pafiti, of Pomerantz LLP, of Los Angeles.
Yuksel seeks to lead an action on behalf of himself and other investors who were allegedly misled about the effectiveness of a medication identified as VTX958, leading to financial losses.
The complaint accuses Ventyx of making false or misleading statements in connection with its initial public offering (IPO) on Oct. 21, 2021. It claims that these misrepresentations led to inflated stock prices and significant losses when the alleged truth was revealed.
Ventyx raised approximately $141 million from its IPO after issuing over 9 million shares at $16 per share, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for alleged violations of federal securities laws.