Overview

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (“Akero” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: AKRO) and certain of the Company’s senior executive officers alleging violations of the federal securities laws.  The Akero lawsuit is brought on behalf of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Akero common stock between September 13, 2022, and October 9, 2023, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”).  Akero investors have until June 25, 2024, to seek appointment as lead plaintiff of the Akero class action lawsuit.

Akero is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company that was founded to develop transformational medicines for patients with serious metabolic diseases that lack effective treatment options.  The Company is currently focused on advancing its lead product candidate efruxifermin (“EFX”), formerly known as AKR-001, to provide a new treatment for patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (“NASH”), a serious liver disease.

The lawsuit alleges that during the Class Period, Akero claimed to be evaluating EFX in two Phase 2 clinical trials in patients with biopsy-confirmed NASH: (1) Akero’s “HARMONY” trial that tested EFX in pre-cirrhotic NASH patients; and (2) Akero’s “SYMMETRY” trial that purportedly tested EFX in patients with NASH-induced cirrhosis.

The Akero lawsuit alleges that Defendants, throughout the Class Period, made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) approximately 20% of the patients enrolled in the SYMMETRY study had cryptogenic cirrhosis and did not have definitive NASH at baseline; (2) the cryptogenic cirrhotic patients included in the SYMMETRY study did not have biopsy-proven compensated cirrhosis due to definitive NASH; (3) the results from the cryptogenic cirrhosis patients were to be excluded from the calculation of the NASH resolution secondary endpoints; (4) Akero had introduced a confounding factor into the SYMMETRY study’s design, materially influencing the study’s potential results and increasing the risks that the study would fail to meet its primary endpoint; (5) the SYMMETRY study did not align with U.S. Food & Drug Administration guidance for testing a drug in treating NASH cirrhotics because Akero had not ruled out potential causes of each patient’s cirrhosis other than NASH; and (6) consequently, Akero had materially misrepresented the nature of the SYMMETRY trial, its usefulness in supporting any new drug application, the likelihood that the SYMMETRY trial would be successful as measured by its primary endpoint, and the likelihood that EFX would become a commercial treatment for NASH cirrhotics.

It was not until Akero disclosed the study’s 36-week results before the market opened on October 10, 2023, that the market finally began to learn the truth.  As further detail emerged, the price of Akero stock plummeted, closing down $30.39 per share on October 10, 2023 and then falling an additional $3.11 per share on October 11, 2023 – a decline of nearly 70% from the stock’s closing price of $48.54 per share on October 9, 2023.

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If you purchased or otherwise acquired Akero common stock between September 13, 2022, and October 9, 2023, both dates inclusive, and you wish to serve as lead plaintiff in this lawsuit, we encourage you to submit your information to DiCello Levitt LLP via the form on this page. 

You can also contact DiCello Levitt partner Brian O’Mara by calling (888) 287-9005 or at investors@dicellolevitt.com. 

The deadline to apply to the Court to serve as a lead plaintiff in the Akero lawsuit is June 25, 2024.