Item 1. Legal Proceedings.
As of November 11, 2022, Ampio is involved in the following legal proceedings:
Kain v. Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., et al., 22-cv-2105
On August 17, 2022, a putative Ampio shareholder filed a securities fraud class action against the Company, its current CEO Michael A. Martino and two former executives, Michael Macaluso and Holli Cherevka, in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, captioned Kain v. Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., et al., 22-cv-2105. The Complaint alleges that Ampio and the individual defendants made various false and misleading statements regarding the efficacy, clinical trials and FDA communications relating to Ampio’s lead product, Ampion, and its treatment of severe osteoarthritis of the knee in violation of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. The Complaint also asserts control person liability against the individual defendants under Section 20 of the Exchange Act.
The Complaint relies largely on Ampio’s announcement on May 16, 2022, that it had formed a special Board committee to investigate the statistical analysis of Ampio’s AP-013 clinical trial and the unauthorized provision of Ampion to various individuals who were not participating in clinical trials, and Ampio’s further announcement on August 3, 2022, that the investigation had revealed that various employees were aware that the AP-013 trial did not demonstrate efficacy for Ampion’s primary endpoints and did not fully and timely report the results of the trial and the timing of unblinding data from the trial. Based on the Company’s reports, the Complaint asserts that various statements made by the Company during the Class Period were false and misleading because they: (i) inflated Ampio’s ability to successfully obtain FDA approval for Ampion; (ii) inflated the results of the AP-013 clinical trial and the timing of unblinding the data from the study; and (iii) overstated the Company’s business, operations and prospects.
The Complaint seeks an unspecified amount of compensatory damages as well as attorneys’ fees and costs. The Court approved the parties’ joint motion, and all deadlines are deferred until after a decision on the lead plaintiff motion(s). On October 17, 2022, six putative shareholders filed motions seeking to be named lead plaintiff. On November 7, 2022, two of the movants filed oppositions to each other’s motions; the remaining movants either withdrew their motions or filed non-oppositions to another putative shareholder’s motion. The Court has not yet ruled on the competing motions for appointment of lead plaintiff.
Ampio intends to defend itself vigorously against this action.
Maresca v. Martino, et al., 22-cv-2646-KLM
On October 7, 2022, putative Ampio shareholder Robert Maresca filed a Verified Shareholder Derivative Complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, captioned Maresca v. Martino, et al., 22-cv-2646-KLM. The derivative complaint, brought on behalf of the Company, asserts claims against a number of current and former executives and directors of the Company, namely Michael A. Martino, Michael Macaluso, Holli Cherevka, David Bar-Or, David Stevens, J. Kevin Buchi, Philip H. Coelho and Richard B. Giles.
Based largely on the same allegations as the Kain securities fraud class action complaint (including Ampio’s reports in May and August, 2022, regarding its internal investigation and findings), the Complaint asserts that the individual defendants caused the Company to make false or misleading statements in its SEC filings by “hyp[ing Ampio’s] ability to successfully file a BLA for Ampion;” “exaggerate[ing] results of the AP-013 study;” “misstat[ing] the true timing of