According to the Complaint, Innate Pharma S.A. purports to be a clinical-stage biotechnology company engaged in discovering and developing first-in-class therapeutic antibodies that harness the innate immune system to improve cancer treatment and clinical outcomes for patients.

On October 23, 2018, Innate and AstraZeneca announced an expansion to a pre-existing collaboration agreement. As part of this agreement, AstraZeneca purchased 9.8% of newly-issued equity stake in Innate and, inter alia, obtained full oncology rights to monalizumab, a first-in-class humanized anti-NKG2A antibody. As part of this agreement, Innate was to receive $100 million in milestone payments at the start of the first Phase 3 clinical trial for monalizumab.

The Complaint alleges that Defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Innate touted the results of their various Phase 2 trials as being within expectations; (2) Innate continued to reassure investors that they were eligible for the $100 million payment upon first dosing of Phase 3 trials; (3) Innate failed to timely disclose their renegotiations with AstraZeneca to split the $100 million payment into two $50 million payments, to be partially contingent on performance during the Phase 3 trials; and (4) as a result, Defendants’ statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.