Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated ("Vertex") is a pharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule drugs for the treatment of serious diseases.

The original Complaint charges Vertex and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Complaint alleges that during the Class Period, Defendants made false and misleading statements about the development of Vertex' s HCV protease inhibitor, telaprevir or VX-950, for the treatment of hepatitis C. Specifically, Defendants made favorable statements regarding VX-950 but failed to disclose unfavorable data from a trial of the drug called PROVE 2. When the truth was disclosed on November 2, 2007, Vertex' s stock price dropped from $31.64 to $24.08 in two trading days.

According to the Complaint, Defendants' statements regarding VX-950 and the PROVE 2 trial were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose unfavorable data regarding VX-950 from the PROVE 2 trial compared to PROVE 1. Specifically, PROVE 1 showed that patients taking VX-950 experienced 16% greater total viral reduction after twelve weeks compared to the control group. The results of PROVE 2, which Defendants did not disclose during the Class Period, showed an advantage over the control group of only six percent.

On May 29, 2008, Judge Richard G. Stearns signed the Orders granting the motion to consolidate the cases and granting the motion to appoint the City of Fort Myers Police Officers' Retirement System as lead Plaintiff and approving their selection of lead and liaison Counsel. On July 21, 2008, the lead Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint. The Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint on September 25, 2008. On December 16, 2008, a Joint Stipulation of Voluntary Dismissal with Prejudice was filed and the civil action was terminated.