UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No.15783 / June 17, 1998
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. CHANGNIAN LIU
(United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts Civil Action
No. 98CV11188-RGS)
The Securities and Exchange Commission ( Commission ) today announced the
filing of a
complaint against Changnian Liu ( Dr. Liu ), Ph.D., of Omaha, Nebraska, a
former research
scientist for Immunogen, Inc. ( Immunogen ), a Norwood, Massachusetts
biotechnology
company. The Commission s complaint charges Dr. Liu with insider trading in
Immunogen
stock. Simultaneously with the filing of the complaint, Dr. Liu consented
to the entry of
an order of permanent injunction from future violations of the antifraud
provisions of the
federal securities laws. Dr. Liu also agreed to pay disgorgement of $41,700
of illegal
trading profits, plus prejudgment interest in the amount of $6,633, and to
pay a civil
monetary penalty of $41,700.
The complaint alleges that Dr. Liu purchased 30,000 shares of Immunogen
stock in advance
of the August 6, 1996 publication of Immunogen studies showing that the
company s new drug
compound, C242-DM1, completely eradicated human colon tumors grown in mice.
Dr. Liu was
one of the lead authors of the paper describing the studies, which was
published in The
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ( PNAS ). According to the
complaint,
between July 30 and August 1, 1996, Dr. Liu, while in possession of the
material non-
public information that the PNAS article would be published on August 6,
1996, purchased a
total of 30,000 shares of Immunogen common stock. On August 6, 1996, after
the Company s
SNIPPETS:
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. CHANGNIAN LIU (United States District Court for the
The Commission s complaint charges Dr. Liu with insider trading in Immunogen stock.
Simultaneously with the filing of the complaint, Dr. Liu consented to the entry of an order
Dr. Liu also agreed to pay disgorgement of $41,700 of illegal trading profits, plus
The complaint alleges that Dr. Liu purchased 30,000 shares of Immunogen stock in advance of
Dr. Liu was one of the lead authors of the paper describing the studies, which was published
According to the complaint, between July 30 and August 1, 1996, Dr. Liu, while in possession
On August 6, 1996, after the Company s press release announcing the publication, the price of
Dr. Liu, the complaint alleges, immediately began selling the Immunogen shares he had
Dr. Liu neither admitted nor denied the allegations in the complaint.
The complaint, which was filed in the United States District Court for the District of
|