Amyris Officers and Directors Under Investigation for Breaches of Fiduciary Duty

Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP is investigating potential derivative claims on behalf of shareholders of Amyris, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRS) related to the company’s overstatements regarding future royalty payments on its financial statements and false or misleading statements concerning material weaknesses in the company’s internal controls.

In 2017, Amyris disclosed that it was addressing a material weakness in its internal controls over financial reporting with a remediation plan. Then, in December 2017, the company licensed its manufacturing plant, requiring the licensee to pay Amyris a $27.5 million use fee as well as royalty fees. However, on April 11, 2019, Amyris announced that material accounting errors were made related to the estimates for recognizing revenue for royalty payments and that it would have to restate several quarterly and annual financial reports. As a result, the price of Amyris’s stock fell nearly 24%.

This conduct has exposed the company to securities litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California where it is alleged that Amyris misled investors about its efforts to improve internal controls over financial reporting and overstated its royalty revenues through improper revenue recognition. On October 5, 2020, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers denied Amyris’s motion to dismiss the case, finding that the plaintiffs met the heightened pleading standards for alleged securities fraud, including alleging facts sufficient to create a “strong inference of scienter,” or intent to defraud investors, and that defendants’ statements did not qualify as forward-looking statements under the PSLRA’s safe harbor.

If you currently own stock in Amyris and wish to obtain additional information—or would like to participate in a potential shareholder derivative action—please complete the form below for a free legal consultation.