In early August, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) announced its intent to acquire Global Blood Therapeutics (Nasdaq:GBT) for $68.50 per share, or approximately $5.4 billion.

Now, however, investors are pushing back, alleging that GBT executives made incomplete and misleading statements to win shareholder approval for the prospective deal.

In a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, plaintiff and shareholder Richard Lawrence requested that the court temporarily block an investor vote on the proposed merger scheduled for September 30.

Lawrence claims in the complaint that GBT shared a “materially incomplete
and misleading” Schedule 14A definitive proxy statement with the SEC pertaining to the company’s financial projections and financial analyses.

The plaintiff is asking for a jury trial.

GBT is the developer of Oxbryta (voxelotor), a sickle hemoglobin inhibitor that won FDA approval in November 2019.
GBT’s lead product candidate, inclacumab, is the focus of two Phase 3 studies.

The drug drove roughly $195 million in revenue in 2021.

The lawsuit names several executives at GBT but no executives at Pfizer.

A securities filing shows that Pfizer was not the only company aiming to acquire GBT. An undisclosed company played a role in driving up the acquisition price.

Bloomberg would later report that the undisclosed company was Johnson & Johnson.

GBT and PFE shares held steady, hovering around $67.78 and $47.87 in late afternoon trading.