Life sciences companies continued to be popular targets of securities fraud class action lawsuits filed in 2016, and prudent life sciences companies should take heed of the results of this year’s decisions. In 2016, plaintiffs filed a total of 67 class action securities lawsuits against life sciences companies, an over 70% increase from 2014. Of these cases, the following trends have emerged:

–– There are more claims against small cap companies. Roughly half of the life sciences class action securities lawsuits filed in 2016 targeted companies with a market capitalization of US$500 million or less; this figure has ranged from 50% to 63% since 2012.

–– Plaintiffs filed more securities lawsuits against life sciences companies in the Second, Third and Ninth Circuits, and in particular in federal court in New York and California.

–– Two plaintiffs’ firms represented plaintiffs in over half of the total life sciences class action securities fraud suits in 2016: The Rosen Law Firm (18 filings) and Pomerantz LLP (17 filings).