Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Files Class Action Suit Against Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc.

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP (“Robbins Geller”) (http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/orexigen/) today announced that a class action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California on behalf of purchasers of Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (“Orexigen”) (NASDAQ:OREX) common stock during the period between March 3, 2015 and March 5, 2015, inclusive (the “Class Period”).

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff’s counsel, Darren Robbins of Robbins Geller at 800-449-4900 or 619-231-1058, or via e-mail at djr@rgrdlaw.com. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/orexigen/. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.

The complaint charges Orexigen and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Orexigen is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of pharmaceutical product candidates for the treatment of obesity, including Contrave, which it claims “regulates appetite and energy expenditure through [central nervous system] activity.”

The complaint alleges that as part of the FDA post-marketing approval process for Contrave, Orexigen was required to conduct “a new randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the effects of long-term treatment with Contrave on the incidence of [major adverse cardiac events, or ‘MACE’] in overweight and obese subjects with [cardiovascular] disease or multiple [cardiovascular] risk factors,” referred to as the “LIGHT study.” On March 3, 2015, in connection with reporting to investors the status of certain patent applications the Company had sought for Contrave, Orexigen disclosed detailed interim results of its ongoing LIGHT study, despite, the complaint alleges, having been previously admonished by the FDA for inappropriately releasing interim study data in the past. As a result of the Company’s March 3, 2015 disclosure of the interim study results, the complaint alleges that the price of Orexigen common stock significantly increased in intraday trading on March 3, 2015, on highly unusual trading volume.

Then, after the close of trading on March 5, 2015, Forbes published a report entitled “Top FDA Official Says Orexigen Study Result ‘Unreliable,’ ‘Misleading.’” The complaint alleges that this report contained commentary from an FDA official charged with overseeing the Contrave post-marketing clinical trial program who stated in pertinent part that the interim data from the study was probably “‘unreliable,’” “‘misleading,’” and “‘likely false,’” with the Forbes report warning that “[i]f Orexigen cannot find a way to set things right, it could face fines, civil penalties, or even the withdrawal of Contrave from the market.” On this news, the complaint alleges that the price of Orexigen stock fell substantially when trading resumed on March 6, 2015.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of Orexigen common stock during the Class Period (the “Class”). The plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud.

Robbins Geller, with 200 lawyers in ten offices, represents U.S. and international institutional investors in contingency-based securities and corporate litigation. The firm has obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history, including the largest securities class action judgment. Please visit http://www.rgrdlaw.com for more information.