The American Lawyer (September 2007) has a feature article (including a sidebar and a timeline) on the twists and turns in the securities litigation surrounding Biovail Corporation. Biovail is Canada’s largest publicly traded drugmaker and has been both defending itself in a securities class action and prosecuting a case against short-sellers of the company’s stock. The company’s use of information gathered in the securities class action (which was subject to a protective order) in its other case has gotten the company and its counsel into trouble with the court.
Quote of note: “By the end of 2003, Biovail stock was trading below $25. The drop could be explained, at least in part, by Biovail’s poor performance. In October 2003 the company issued an announcement of disappointing third quarter results, which sent the stock downward. But [the Chairman of Biovail] suspected that there was something else going on. As Biovail’s share price continued to languish through 2004, he came to believe that short-sellers were waging a campaign of disinformation to make sure the share price never recovered.”
The 10b-5 Daily 