BioSyntech Inc.
The Case
On May 13, 2013, Mr. Vincent Blais, represented by Trudel Johnston & Lespérance (TJL), launched a Class action against the eight members of the Board of Directors of BioSyntech Inc. as of May 12, 2010. You can consult the Motion to institute a Class Action filed in front of the Superior Court of Québec here.
The Class was defined as follows:
All natural persons and legal persons which, in the 12 months previous to May 13 2013, had fewer than 50 employees, who held securities of BioSyntech Inc. on May 12, 2010, except the Respondents, ProQuest Investments LLP, Fonds de Solidarité des Travailleurs du Québec, Pappas Ventures, Nicholas Piramal India Limited, and Highland Capital Management;
The Respondent Directors of BioSyntech Inc. oversaw a troubling pattern of negligence that resulted in the sale of its intellectual property and the subsequent bankruptcy of the company, when it was on the verge of completing pivotal, stage Ill, clinical results for its promising, flagship medical device to repair damaged knee cartilage. After having taken a risk and invested in a promising biotechnology start up, securities holders were deprived of the fruits of their investment by the negligence of the Respondents.
On May 19, 2010, Piramal, a shareholder in BioSyntech that was represented by Respondent Somesh Sharma on the Board, bought BioSyntech’s core assets, including the patents for BST-CarGel, for $4,556,000.
The proposed Class action seeks compensatory damages for the losses suffered by security holders of Biosyntech Inc. when its Directors, the Respondents, authorized the company to seek bankruptcy protection on May 12, 2010.
Status
On June 30, 2015, Justice Hamilton of the Superior Court of Québec dismissed the Motion for authorization to institute a Class action. This judgment can be found here.
On July 30, 2015, TJL appealed Justice Hamilton’s decision. TJL’s Inscription in appeal can be found here.
On November 30, 2016, the Court of Appeal dismissed TJL’s appeal. This judgment can be found here.
Following the Court of Appeal’s decision, this class action has come to an end.