NFLD Northfield Laboratories Inc. (MM)

CHICAGO, March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- An investor sued Northfield Laboratories, Inc., ("Northfield" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:NFLD) today in federal court, accusing the Company of securities law violations, Berman DeValerio Pease Tabacco Burt & Pucillo announced. Berman DeValerio (http://www.bermanesq.com/) filed the class action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The complaint seeks damages for violations of federal securities laws on behalf of all investors who purchased Northfield Securities from February 20, 2004 through and including February 21, 2006 (the "Class Period"). To receive a copy of the complaint, you may contact the court, call the firm at (800) 349-4612 or, go to http://www.bermanesq.com/pdf/Northfield-Cplt.pdf. The lawsuit claims that Northfield and an individual defendant violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act"), 15 U.S.C. Sections 78j(b) and 78t, and SEC Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. Section 240.10b-5, promulgated there under. Founded in 1985, Evanston, IL based Northfield Laboratories is a development state Biotechnology Company. It primarily develops PolyHeme, an oxygen-carrying blood substitute for the treatment of urgent life-threatening blood loss in trauma and resultant surgical settings. The complaint alleges that during the class period, defendants issued a series of materially false and misleading statements regarding the safety profile and history of PolyHeme. On February 22, 2006, The Wall Street Journal reported in a story that the data available to defendants from an ANH clinical trial using PolyHeme, but not to the public, revealed the following: * Ten of 81 patients who received PolyHeme suffered a heart attack within seven days, and two of those died. * None of the 71 patients in the ANH clinical trial who received real blood were found to have suffered a heart attack. Defendants in a press release on February 22, 2006, responding to The Wall Street Journal article, did not dispute the data concerning the patient heart attacks and deaths from the ANH clinical trial. Rather, defendants admit that they did not publish the data concerning patient heart attacks and deaths. The market was stunned by the disclosure of the secret, adverse data from the long-closed ANH clinical trial and the market price of Northfield's common stock fell with the belated disclosures. On February 21, 2006, the day before the disclosure by The Wall Street Journal, Northfield's common stock closed at a price of $12.23 per share. On February 22, 2006, on extraordinary volume of more than 4.1 million shares, Northfield's common stock closed at a price of $11.64 per share. The price continued to drop as the market absorbed all of the news, including the announcement on February 24, 2006, by United States Senator Charles E. Grassley, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, that he has begun an inquiry into the matter. If you purchased Northfield Securities from February 20, 2004 through and including February 21, 2006, you may wish to contact the following attorneys at Berman DeValerio Pease Tabacco Burt & Pucillo to discuss your rights and interests. Leslie R. Stern, Esq. Joseph C. Merschman, Esq. 1 Liberty Square, 8th Floor Boston, MA 02109 (800) 516-9926 If you wish to apply to be lead plaintiff in this action, a motion on your behalf must be filed with the court no later than May 19, 2006. You may contact the attorneys at Berman DeValerio to discuss your rights regarding the appointment of lead plaintiff and your interest in the class action, or you may submit information online at http://www.bermanesq.com/Securities/Signup1.asp?caseid=567. Please note, you may also retain counsel of your choice and need not take any action at this time to be a class member. Berman DeValerio Pease Tabacco Burt & Pucillo prosecutes class actions nationwide on behalf of institutions and individuals, chiefly victims of securities fraud, antitrust law violations, and consumer fraud. The firm has 34 lawyers in Boston, San Francisco and West Palm Beach. DATASOURCE: Berman DeValerio Pease Tabacco Burt & Pucillo CONTACT: Joseph C. Merschman, Esq., or Leslie R. Stern, Esq. both of Berman DeValerio Pease Tabacco Burt & Pucillo, +1-800-516-9926, Web site: http://www.bermanesq.com/

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