Presenting the "Preemptive Vigorous Defense" Press Release

Readers have no doubt discerned that securities class action related press releases, in all of their permutations, present a great deal of fodder for my musings.

It appears a new permutation has emerged.

This morning Antigenics Inc. issued a preemptive vigorous defense press release.

The release noted that a purported class action complaint had been filed last week in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico against the company and its chief executive officer, Garo H. Armen.

Antigenics went on to state:

The Company believes that the complaint is without merit and plans to vigorously defend against the litigation. The Company's policy is to not discuss pending litigation.

Here's the rub - a quick search of Yahoo! Finance, MarketWatch, TheStreet.com, The Motley Fool, reveals that no press release has yet been issued by the firm(s) that filed the complaint.

Of course, they still have some time to get around to it.

The PSLRA states that securities class action plaintiffs, within 20 days of filing a complaint, "shall cause to be published, in a widely circulated national business-oriented publication or wire service, a notice advising members of the purported plaintiff class." See 15 U.S.C. § §  77z-1(a)(3)(A)(i) (Securities Act of 1933), 78u-4(a)(3)(A)(i) (Securities Exchange Act of 1934).

One more thing - isn't issuing a preemptive press release arguably the very discussion of pending litigation that Antigenics indicates it does not do?