A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

The class-action lawsuits against Sequenom (San Diego) are starting to pile up, ever since the company reported last week that the expected launch of its SEQureDx Down syndrome test has been delayed as a result of employee mishandling of R&D test data.

Glancy Binkow & Goldberg (Los Angeles) reported Tuesday that it has filed a class action suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on behalf of stockholders who purchased Sequenom shares between June 4, 2008 and April 29.

The complaint charges Sequenom and certain executive officers with violations of federal securities laws. It alleges that defendants knew or recklessly disregarded that their public statements concerning Sequenom's business, operations and prospects were materially false and misleading. Specifically, the complaint alleges that defendants' public statements were false and misleading or failed to disclose or indicate material adverse developments concerning the company's SEQureDx prenatal Down syndrome test.

In addition, the law firm noted, during the class period, and while in possession of undisclosed material adverse information, defendants completed a secondary offering in June 2008, selling roughly 5.5 million shares of its stock to the public for $15.50 a share, for net proceeds of more than $85 million.

Glancy Binkow & Goldberg join at least two other firms that have either filed a class action suit against Sequenom or are investigating the company concerning possible securities violations. Last week, within a day of Sequenom reporting its discovery of mishandled data, Johnson Bottini, a San Diego firm, said it filed a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on behalf of the same group of stockholders. The law offices of Howard Smith (Bensalem, Pennsylvania) said it is "investigating potential claims" against Sequenom.

After Sequenom said it had discovered employee mishandling of R&D test data and that the launch of its Down syndrome test would be delayed as a result, the company's shares plummeted $11.29 a share, or more than 75%, to close at $3.62 a share Thursday.

In other legalities, Illumina (San Diego) said it has filed a patent infringement suit against Affymetrix (Santa Clara, California). The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, asserts that Affymetrix' GeneChip HT Array Plate and GeneChip HT Array Plate Scanner infringe upon Illumina's U.S. Patent No. 7,510,841.

Illumina is asking the federal court to enjoin Affymetrix from continuing to make and sell its HT Array Plate and Scanner products, as well as for unspecified monetary damages.