NEW YORK, May 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm, reminds investors that class actions have been commenced on behalf of stockholders of Exscientia plc. (NASDAQ: EXAI), and Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKRO). Stockholders have until the deadlines below to petition the court to serve as lead plaintiff. Additional information about each case can be found at the link provided.

Exscientia plc. (NASDAQ: EXAI)

Class Period: March 23, 2022 - Febraury 12, 2024

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: June 25, 2024

Exscientia in an artificial intelligence ("AI") driven Pharma-tech company that engages in the design and develop differentiated medicines for diseases with high unmet patient needs.

At all relevant times, the Company purported to "maintain[] the highest standards of business conduct and ethics" and, to that end, adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics which applies to all of its employees, officers and directors, including former Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") and Director Defendant Andrew Hopkins ("Hopkins"), former Chairman of the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board") Defendant David Nicholson ("Nicholson"), and all other executive and senior officers.

The Complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Defendant Hopkins had engaged in improper relationships with employees that were inconsistent with the Company's standards and values; (ii) Defendant Nicholson had prior knowledge of Defendant Hopkins's relationships and had improperly addressed Hopkins's misconduct without consulting the Board; (iii) the Company's maintenance and enforcement of its Code of Business Conduct and Ethics was inadequate to safeguard against the foregoing conduct; (iv) the foregoing failures subjected the Company to a heightened risk of disruptive leadership transitions and/or reputational harm; and (v) as a result, Defendants' public statements were materially false and/or misleading at all relevant times.

On February 13, 2024, Exscientia issued a press release "announc[ing] that its Board of Directors (the ‘Board') has decided to terminate the employment of [Defendant] Hopkins as the Company's [CEO] and Principal Executive Officer, and to remove Dr. Hopkins from his role as an Executive Director of the Board, in each case for cause and effective immediately." The press release further revealed that the Board's decision was taken following an investigation which found that Defendant Hopkins had "engaged in relationships with two employees that the Board determined were inappropriate and inconsistent with the Company's standards and values." In addition, the press release indicated that during the course of the investigation, the Board learned that "[Defendant] Nicholson [. . .] had prior knowledge of the existence of the earlier of Dr. Hopkins' relationships and had addressed the situation directly, and with the involvement of other outside counsel, rather than in consultation with the Board," and "[f]ollowing discussions with the Board, on February 12, 2024 Dr. Nicholson tendered his resignation from his positions with the Company."

On this news, Exscientia's stock price fell $1.72 per share, or 22.9%, to close at $5.79 per share on February 13, 2024.

For more information on the Exscientia class action go to: https://bespc.com/cases/EXAI

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKRO)

Class Period: September 13, 2022 - October 9, 2023 (Common Stock Only)

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: June 25, 2024

Akero is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on advancing its lead product candidate efruxifermin (“EFX”) to provide a new treatment for patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (“NASH”), a serious liver disease. During the Class Period, Akero claimed to be evaluating EFX in two Phase 2 clinical trials in patients with biopsy-confirmed NASH: (i) Akero’s “HARMONY” trial that tested EFX in pre-cirrhotic NASH patients; and (ii) Akero’s “SYMMETRY” trial that purportedly tested EFX in patients with NASH-induced cirrhosis.

The Akero class action lawsuit alleges that defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) approximately 20% of the patients enrolled in the SYMMETRY study had cryptogenic cirrhosis and did not have definitive NASH at baseline; (ii) the cryptogenic cirrhotic patients included in the SYMMETRY study did not have biopsy-proven compensated cirrhosis due to definitive NASH; (iii) the results from the cryptogenic cirrhosis patients were to be excluded from the calculation of the NASH resolution secondary endpoints; (iv) Akero had introduced a confounding factor into the SYMMETRY study’s design, materially influencing the study’s potential results and increasing the risks that the study would fail to meet its primary endpoint; (v) the SYMMETRY study did not align with U.S. Food & Drug Administration guidance for testing a drug in treating NASH cirrhotics because Akero had not ruled out potential causes of each patient’s cirrhosis other than NASH; and (vi) consequently, Akero had materially misrepresented the nature of the SYMMETRY trial, its usefulness in supporting any new drug application, the likelihood that the SYMMETRY trial would be successful as measured by its primary endpoint, and the likelihood that EFX would become a commercial treatment for NASH cirrhotics.

The filed complaint further alleges that it was not until Akero disclosed the study’s 36-week results on October 10, 2023 that the market finally began to learn the truth, with investors suffering substantial losses and damages under the federal securities laws as the price of Akero stock plummeted nearly 70% in response, according to the Akero class action lawsuit.

For more information on the Akero class action go to: https://bespc.com/cases/AKRO

About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.:

Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York, California, and South Carolina. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Contact Information:

Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.
Brandon Walker, Esq.
Marion Passmore, Esq.
(212) 355-4648
investigations@bespc.com
www.bespc.com