OPINION AND ORDER This is a putative class action filed by plaintiff Eugene Shapiro against defendants TG Therapeutics, Inc. (“TG Therapeutics”), a biotechnology firm, and two of its officers, Michael Weiss and Sean Power, on behalf of similarly-situated investors in TG Therapeutics. The Complaint alleges that the defendants made false and misleading statements relating to the development of two new drugs, Ublituximab and Umbralisib. Two investors in TG Therapeutics, Frank Lupacchino and Boston Retirement System (“BRS”), moved to be appointed as lead plaintiff pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §78u-4(a) (1).1 After full briefing, the Court held an evidentiary hearing in which, inter alia, it posed questions both to Mr. Lupacchino and to Natacha Thomas, the BRS General Counsel, who is to have oversight responsibility if BRS is selected as lead plaintiff. See Conference of Sept. 30, 2021, Tr. 3:12-15. Thereafter, in an Order dated October 10, 2022, the Court granted BRS’s motion and denied Mr. Lupacchino’s, thereby appointing BRS as lead plaintiff and approving its choice of lead counsel, Labaton Sucharow LLP (“Labaton Sucharow”). See ECF No. 41. That Order stated that an opinion would follow explaining the reasons for the Court’s rulings. See id. Here is that Opinion. I. Plaintiffs’ Allegations TG Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company. Its products include Ublituximab and Umbralisib, which are both candidate treatments for B-cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases such as lymphoma. Compl., ECF No. 1, at 2. Between January 2020 and September 2021, TG Therapeutics submitted Ublituximab and Umbralisib to the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for approval. Id. at
2-6. During this period, the Complaint alleges, the defendants caused investors to have an overly optimistic expectation of FDA approval. Id. at 7. The truth came out, to some extent, on November 30, 2021. Id. at 8. On that day, TG Therapeutics issued a press release stating that the FDA planned to host a meeting at which it would ask searching questions about Ublituximab and Umbralisib. The market took this as a bad sign. Id. On the news, TG Therapeutics’ stock price fell $8.16 per share, or 34.93 percent, to close at $15.20 per share on November 30, 2021. Id. at 9. The prospects for Ublituximab and Umbralisib did not improve. On April 15, 2022, TG Therapeutics issued a press release stating that it had voluntarily withdrawn its applications for using the combination of Ublituximab and Umbralisib to treat chronic lymphocyte lymphoma and small lymphocyte lymphoma. Id. at 10. On that news, TG Therapeutics’ stock price fell $1.93 per share, or 21.81 percent, to close at $6.92 per share on April 18, 2022. Id. at 11. About one-and-a-half months later, on May 31, 2022, TG Therapeutics announced that the FDA had extended the Prescription Drug User Fee Act date for Ublituximab to December 28, 2022 “to allow time to review a submission provided by the Company in response to an FDA information request, which the FDA deemed a major amendment,” an announcement which caused the price of TG Therapeutics stock to fall $0.75 per share, or 14.51 percent, to close at $4.42 per share on May 31, 2022. Id. at
