PepGen Class Action Lawsuit: A Meticulous Step-by-Step Guide to How Securities Class Actions Work [2025]

The PepGen class action lawsuit, like most securities fraud cases, could take approximately 2.5 to 4 years to reach settlement. This timeline shows just one part of these complex legal proceedings.

Companies face securities fraud class actions when bad news makes their stock price drop by a lot. These cases make it tough for investors to get compensation. The PepGen lawsuit wants to recover damages as a group instead of individual claims. Research shows that plaintiffs’ lawyers take about 40% of any settlement, which cuts into what shareholders actually get back.

We wrote this piece to show you how securities class actions work from filing to final resolution. The stakes get really high when a class gets certified. Picture this: 50,000 shareholders each claim $10 per share in losses – that adds up to $500 million in potential damages.

Let’s look at how these cases play out and what you need to know about the whole process to better know what to expect in the PepGen class action lawsuit

Understanding Securities Class Actions Like the Open Lending Lawsuit

Securities class actions give investors a powerful way to recover their financial losses. Shareholders file these lawsuits when they believe companies misled them with false statements that drove up stock prices artificially. This is the exact scenario in the PepGen class action lawsuit.

What triggers a securities class action

A sharp drop in a company’s stock price usually kicks off a securities class action. This happens after new information comes to light that contradicts what the company told investors earlier. The new information usually comes from the company in the form of a corrective disclosure.  The lawsuit represents all investors who bought securities during the “class period” – the time when alleged fraud or violations pushed the stock price up artificially.

These cases typically stem from:

1. Fraudulent stock manipulation or false statements to investors
2. Misleading information in prospectuses, earnings announcements, or SEC filings
3. Financial statements that violated Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
4. Restatement of previously issued financial statements

Most claims fall under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Rule 10b-5 stands out as the legal framework investors use most often when they suspect fraud in stock exchange transactions.

How the Open Lending Lawsuit fits this model

The PepGen class action lawsuit shows this pattern clearly. Investors who bought Open Lending securities between March 7, 2024 and March 3, 2025  filed the Open Lending Lawsuit claiming several false and misleading statements:

• PGN-EDO51 was less effective and safe than defendants had led investors to believe;
• PepGen’s CONNECT2 study was dangerous or otherwise deficient for purposes of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) approval; and
• As result, PepGen was likely to halt the CONNECT2 study, and PGN-EDO51’s clinical, regulatory, and commercial prospects were overstated.

The core argument in the PepGen class action lawsuit matches most securities class actions – investors lost money because the stock’s artificially high price crashed once the truth came out.

Step-by-Step Breakdown of the Legal Process in the Open Lending Lawsuit

The legal process behind securities class actions like the PepGen class action lawsuit follows a carefully coordinated series of steps. Each step has specific timelines and procedural requirements.

Filing the Original Complaint

Multiple law firms typically file similar complaints against the same defendants in securities class actions. A press release announcing the first lawsuit triggers a 60-day deadline for shareholders to step forward as lead plaintiff. Lawyers rush this original filing because they know a more detailed united complaint will follow.

Lead Plaintiff Selection and Uniting Cases

Investors must file motions to request appointment as lead plaintiff within 60 days of the first notice. The courts generally appoint the movant who has the largest financial stake in the litigation. This movant must also be “typical” and “adequate” as defined in Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The selected lead plaintiff then unites the cases into a single action and their chosen attorney becomes lead counsel.

Motion to Dismiss and Its Effect

As you will see in the O PepGen class action lawsuit, Defendants file a motion to dismiss the united complaint almost every time. The PSLRA automatically stops discovery during this period, which prevents plaintiffs from getting documents or testimony. This motion marks a crucial point—courts dismissed about 43% of securities class actions at this stage from 1997 through 2018.

Discovery and Evidence Gathering

The discovery process starts if the court denies the motion to dismiss. Parties exchange document requests, interrogatories, and take depositions. This expensive process takes a long time and often involves millions of document pages, and the  PepGen class action lawsuit.

Class Certification under Rule 23

Plaintiffs must prove these elements to certify a class:

• Numerosity (typically at least 40 members)
• Commonality (shared questions of law or fact)
• Typicality (representative claims similar to class members)
• Adequacy of representation

Summary Judgment and Trial Preparation

Defendants often file for summary judgment based on undisputed facts after discovery ends. This gives them another chance to end the case before trial. Less than 1% of securities class actions reach trial verdict.

Key Challenges Plaintiffs in the Open Lending Lawsuit Must Overcome

Plaintiffs who filed the  PepGen class action lawsuit must overcome several tough challenges to win their case. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSLRA) and court interpretations create these roadblocks.

Proving scienter and intent

The PSLRA sets a tough standard that makes plaintiffs show a “strong inference” of scienter—knowledge of wrongdoing or reckless disregard for the truth. Courts take a “hard look” at these claims and evaluate them with an all-encompassing approach. Many plaintiffs rely on confidential witnesses to support their scienter claims.

Courts inspect these allegations with great care and get into their detail level and plausibility. The  PepGen lawsuit faces a big challenge. Showing that executives knew their statements were false needs more than just proving they had access to contrary information. Plaintiffs must connect specific data source contents to particular statements.

Establishing loss causation

A direct link between alleged misrepresentations and economic losses must exist. Plaintiffs usually need to point out “corrective disclosures” that revealed the truth and made stock prices fall. The usual method requires proof that misrepresentations artificially pushed up the purchase price. The truth coming out later must have caused the value to drop. This remains nowhere near easy to prove, especially when dealing with “fraud on the market” cases.

Demonstrating price impact

Defendants can stop class certification by proving lack of price impact—showing alleged misstatements didn’t move the stock price. The Supreme Court’s decision in Goldman Sachs v. Arkansas Teacher Retirement System requires courts to think about whether generic statements could really affect stock prices. Defendants in the  PepGen lawsuit must prove there’s no price impact by a preponderance of evidence.

Meeting class certification standards

Class certification in the  PepGen class action lawsuit will be a crucial battleground the courts will perform a “rigorous analysis” of Rule 23 requirements. Hard evidence, not just allegations, must show these requirements are met. Courts get into whether common questions outweigh individual issues.

They also check if the proposed representative truly speaks for class interests. Class certification has become tougher, and defendants have found some success in challenging plaintiffs’ claims, and you can expect the same arguments in the  PepGen class action lawsuit.

How Most Cases Are Resolved

Securities class actions rarely make it to trial, as settlement remains the most common way to resolve these cases. Most cases that survive a motion to dismiss ended up reaching settlement. Less than 1% of cases actually go to trial verdict.

The role of mediation

Securities class action mediation is different from other legal proceedings because of the massive amounts at stake and complex laws involved. Independent mediators don’t make decisions but help both parties reach an agreement they can accept.

Early mediation helps parties learn about opposing viewpoints and build mutually beneficial alliances with insurance carriers, even when immediate settlement doesn’t happen. These sessions involve detailed discussions about case merits through separate meetings with each side.

Settlement process and court approval

The PSLRA requires specific notifications to class members after parties reach an agreement. These notifications must include:

• The proposed distribution amount
• Statement of potential case outcomes
• Attorneys’ fees and costs requested
• Identification of available plaintiff’s counsel
• Explanation of settlement reasons
• Additional court-required information

Class members in the  PepGen class action lawsuit can file objections or choose to opt out after receiving notification. The court assesses if the settlement is appropriate through a hearing where both sides present their arguments.

Claims administration and payout timeline

If there is a settlement in the PepGen class action lawsuit, an independent claims administrator will handle the distribution of settlement funds after approval. These specialized firms manage everything in the claims process – from identifying eligible security positions to calculating losses and sending payments.

A typical securities class action takes about two to three years to conclude after filing. Administrators might make second or third distributions after the initial payout, especially when they hold back money to cover late claims in bigger cases.

Class members receive settlements in cash, stock, or both based on their calculated losses. The maximum possible recovery equals losses from illegal conduct, but parties rarely achieve this amount.

Conclusion

Securities class actions like the  PepGen class action lawsuit are complex legal battles that create big hurdles for investors who want compensation. The PepGen lawsuit shows how these cases take several years to move through a well-laid-out legal process.

Plaintiffs don’t have it easy during these proceedings. They need to prove scienter, establish loss causation, show price impact, and meet strict class certification requirements. These roadblocks explain why almost half of all securities class actions don’t make it past the motion to dismiss stage.

Cases that survive the original dismissal attempts usually end in settlement. Most resolutions take 2-3 years, and shareholders get compensation based on their proven losses. Investors in the PepGen lawsuit should brace themselves for a long journey ahead.

The settlement distribution process helps paint a clearer picture of what to expect. While claims administrators tackle the complex job of figuring out individual payouts, shareholders should know their actual recovery is nowhere near the maximum possible damages. Legal teams typically take about 40% of settlements, which cuts into what individual investors receive.

Securities class actions definitely offer a way to deal with alleged corporate wrongdoing. Their ability to work as compensation vehicles faces limits from procedural hurdles, long timelines, and reduced payouts. The PepGen lawsuit shows these dynamics at work and gives us a clear view of how these specialized legal proceedings work in our financial markets.