Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PTLA) Accused of Misleading Shareholders
According to the complaint for alleged violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 between November 5, 2019 and January 9, 2020, throughout the relevant period, Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PTLA) had issued a series of misleading statements that failed to disclose that Portola’s internal control over financial reporting for reserve product returns was not effective. Specifically, the Company was shipping longer-dated product with 36-month shelf life without establishing adequate reserve for returns of prior shipments of short-dated product, which created a need for Portola to “catch up” on accounting for return reserves. As a result, on January 9, 2020, Portola announced preliminary net revenues of only $28 million for fourth quarter of 2019, citing a $5 million reserve adjustment for short-dated product and flat quarter-over-quarter demand for the disappointing financials. On this news, the Company’s share price fell $9.98 per share, or approximately 40%, to close at $14.76.
