Odonate Agrees to Pay $12.5 Million in Cancer Drug Class Action

Odonate Therapeutics Inc. has agreed to pay $12.5 million to resolve a proposed class action in California alleging the pharmaceutical company misled investors about the safety of a new drug for treating cancer.

Kevin Kendall filed the lawsuit in September 2020, accusing the company of making misleading statements and omissions about the development of tesetaxel. The amended complaint says the company and its officers unlawfully inflated the stock price by misleading investors about a clinical trial and the likelihood of FDA approval.

On Dec. 3, the named plaintiff filed an unopposed motion for preliminary approval of the class action settlement. The motion says the deal is “the product of extensive work” by co-lead counsel.

The motion says the deal is an “excellent result” for members of the settlement class. It comes about four months after Odonate lost a bid to throw out the allegations when a federal judge in California found investors sufficiently pleaded their case.

The motion says attorneys for the plaintiffs will also seek an attorneys’ fees award of one-third of the settlement amount, and up to $100,000 in expenses. The proposed deal includes a $5,000 award for the lead plaintiff.

The proposed deal is subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

The plaintiffs are represented by Pomerantz LLP and Holzer & Holzer LLC. The defendants are represented by Cooley LLP.

The case is Kendall v. Odonate Therapeutics Inc., S.D. Cal., No. 3:20-cv-01828, 12/3/21.