Case Highlights:
On May 7, 2024, a federal district court dismissed securities fraud claims brought against a pharmaceutical company related to a marketing slogan used to promote the company’s drug. At issue in Sneed v. AcelRx Pharms., Inc. (“Sneed”)[1], was AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s (“AcelRx”) marketing slogan, “Tongue and Done,” used to promote its FDA-approved drug DSUVIA, an opioid painkiller. AcelRx had presented the “Tongue and Done” slogan on its website, among other places, to highlight the ease of administering DSUVIA (i.e., sublingually) compared to other opioid painkillers, which are administered either orally (which requires a patient’s ability to swallow) or via intravenous injection.