Pomerantz $40 Million Emergent Biosolutions Settlement Granted Final Approval

By the Editors

Pomerantz was pleased to recently resolve its securities class action lawsuit against Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) and certain of its executives, which sought to recover investment losses stemming from alleged misrepresentations of the markets relating to Emergent’s disastrous COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing failures. After four years of hard-fought litigation led by Pomerantz Partner Matthew Tuccillo, the court granted final approval to the $40 million class-wide settlement in late February 2025.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Emergent seemed uniquely positioned to capitalize, as the U.S. government had designated Emergent’s Bayview facility in Baltimore, Maryland, as one of just three in the U.S. pre-authorized to ensure a supply of vaccines in a pandemic. In short order, Emergent signed over $1 billion in contracts with the U.S. government, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca to manufacture the raw material – bulk drug substance – for the two companies’ COVID-19 vaccines, which, due to simpler dosing and refrigeration needs than mRNA alternatives, were poised to be a significant element of the U.S. global response to the pandemic.

Unbeknownst to investors, Emergent’s Bayview facility had serious, longstanding deficiencies in equipment, personnel, training, and processes, particularly in regards to its anti-contamination capabilities, which materially increased the risks of catastrophic errors that could derail its COVID-19 manufacturing work. These flaws, which rendered the Bayview facility unsuited for the urgent COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing role, were later revealed by The New York Times and the Associated Press, multiple Congressional reports, and Pomerantz’s interviews of numerous former employees and review of extensive regulatory documentation.

Contrary to these concealed, negative facts, during the class period at issue, Emergent and its executives touted Bayview’s readiness to rapidly engage in large-scale manufacturing of both the J&J and AstraZeneca COVID- 19 vaccine bulk drug substances. Emergent raised funds via a public offering, while its CEO revised his Rule 10b5-1 stock trading plan, which had not sold a single share in four years, to sell over 88,000 shares in a three-week period near class period high trading prices, reaping him over $11 million in sales during the alleged fraud. When The New York Times reported that Emergent had cross-contaminated a batch of J&J bulk drug substance with AstraZeneca material, Emergent and its CEO initially denied that any cross-contamination had occurred.

Ensuing revelations of incidents where deficient procedures, insufficient training, and lack of compliance at Bayview resulted in batches of J&J or AstraZeneca bulk drug substance being discarded due to bacterial or other contamination, suffocation of cells, and other failures caused Emergent’s stock price to plummet. The U.S. government halted production of the AstraZeneca vaccine at Bayview and handed control of the facility to J&J before finally ending all COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing there, as Emergent’s lucrative contracts were terminated. Ultimately, Emergent’s failures resulted in the destruction of 400 million out of the 500 million COVID-19 vaccine dose-equivalents ever produced at the Bayview facility, a stunning failure. Investors suffered huge losses.

Pomerantz’s clients, the Nova Scotia Health Employees’ Pension Plan and the City of Fort Lauderdale Police & Firefighters’ Retirement System, were appointed Co-Lead Plaintiffs to oversee this important litigation. Under their oversight, Pomerantz pled a robust amended complaint, supplemented by extensive judicial notice materials, that synthesized a sweeping factual record into a compelling securities fraud narrative.