Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Investors File Lawsuit

JANUARY 2012 - Settlement approved.

NOVEMBER 2011 - According to the Notice:

The Settlement resolves a federal class action lawsuit alleging that Acura and certain of its officers and directors violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by publishing a series of statements that were known and/or recklessly disregarded to be materially false and misleading, and/or omitting to reveal material information that was necessary to make those statements, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. Herein, the “Action” means In re Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Sec. Litig., Case No. 1:10-cv-05757-VK (N.D. Ill.).

The federal court has preliminarily certified, for settlement purposes only, a Class consisting of all Persons (including, as to all such Persons, their beneficiaries) who purchased or otherwise acquired the securities of Acura Pharmaceuticals between February 21, 2006, and April 22, 2010, inclusive. Excluded from the Class are the Defendants; any officers or directors of Acura Pharmaceuticals during the Class Period and any current officers or directors of Acura Pharmaceuticals; any corporation, trust or other entity in which any Defendant has a controlling interest; and the members of the immediate families of
Andrew D. Reddick, Peter A. Clemens, Bruce F. Wesson, William A. Sumner, and Immanuel Thangaraj and their successors, heirs, assigns, and legal representatives. Also excluded from the Class are those Persons who timely and validly request
exclusion from the Class pursuant to this Notice.

The Settlement provides for a $1,500,000 cash Settlement Fund for the benefit of Class Members. Lead Counsel estimate that the average per-share benefit to Class Members from this Settlement will be $0.19 before deduction of Court-approved fees and expenses.

SEPTEMBER 2010 - An investor in Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACUR) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. over alleged violations of Federal Securities Laws.

Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc., located in Palatine, Illinois, is a specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in research, development and manufacture of product candidates providing abuse deterrent features and benefits utilizing its Aversion Technology. According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges that Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:ACUR) and certain of its officers and directors violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by concealing between February 21, 2006 and April 22, 2010 material adverse facts about one of Acura Pharmaceutical's lead product candidate, Acurox, an orally administered immediate release tablet containing oxycodone as its active ingredient and niacin as an oral abuse-deterrent.

According to the plaintiff Acura Pharmaceuticals repeatedly announced to its investors the strength of the clinical trials of Acurox and the drug's potential for obtaining FDA approval, and thus commercial viability. Then on April 22, 2010 Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACUR) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Anesthetic and Life Support Drugs and Drug Safety and Risk Management Committees voted that they do not have enough evidence to support the approval of the New Drug Application for Acurox Tablets for the treatment of moderate to severe pain, considering the deterrent effects of niacin as well as the potential deterrent effects of the other features specific to Acurox.

In response to this news Acura's stock price declined from $7.90 per share on April 19, 2010 to $4.02 per share on April 23, 2010. Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. shares, which traded as high as over $24 per share during 2007, continued to decline to recently as low as $2.38 per share.