NEW YORK, April 29, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized stockholder rights law firm, announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (“Akero” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: AKRO) in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Akero common stock between September 13, 2022 and October 9, 2023, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”). Investors have until June 25, 2024 to apply to the Court to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.

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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.

If you purchased or otherwise acquired Akero shares and suffered a loss, are a long-term stockholder, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Brandon Walker or Marion Passmore by email at investigations@bespc.com, telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you.

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