Omeros Shares Up on Claim Settlement
Omeros Corporation (OMER) surged 18.2% on Oct 3, 2013 to close at $13.23, after reaching a 52-week high of $13.29.
The surge came on the back of a settlement agreement with its insurance carrier, Carolina Casualty Insurance Company (:CCIC), on a case filed in 2009. By Oct 25, 2013, CCIC will make a payment of $12.5 million to Omeros for costs related to coverage obligations to Omeros and its CEO and chairman, Gregory A. Demopulos. The CEO will give his share of settlement funds to Omeros.
We note that in 2009, former CFO Richard Klein, filed a lawsuit against Omeros alleging wrongful termination. Omeros denied these allegations. The former CFO used whistleblower policy and informed the chairman of the company’s audit committee that Omeros had submitted grant reimbursement claims pertaining to the G protein-coupled receptors (:GPCR) program to the National Institutes of Health (:NIH).Omeros denied these allegations.
In Nov 2012, Omeros made a one-time payment of $3.94 million to Klein to release all his claims, which included a claim for payment of his attorneys’ fees since 2009 incurred in connection with the lawsuit.
Besides the settlement agreement, Omeros revealed information on its pipeline progress. Later this year, Omeros expects to provide more data on its candidates, OMS824 and OMS721.
Omeros believes that OMS302 will be available both in the U.S. and the EU in 2014 subject to regulatory approval. We note that regulatory authorities in the U.S. and the EU accepted the marketing applications for OMS302 earlier this month.
Omeros currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Currently, companies like Lannett Company, Inc. (LCI), Roche Holding (RHHBY) and Actelion Ltd. (ALIOF) look more attractive with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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