aibioMedpace discloses plaintiff dropped Ohio securities class action over book-to-bill ratio
Tickers MEDP
Defendants: Medpace Holdings, August J. Troendle, Jesse J. Geiger and Kevin M. Brady. Plaintiff filed a voluntary dismissal without prejudice on October 12, and a derivative suit was also dropped.
Key facts
- Company
- Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MEDP)
- News type
- Legal
- Primary source
- Medpace Holdings 10-Q for the quarter ended Sept 30, 2026 (SEC EDGAR)
Medpace Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: MEDP) disclosed in its quarterly report for the period ended September 30, 2026, filed on October 22, that the plaintiff in a securities class action over its book-to-bill ratio has dropped the case. The dismissal was voluntary and without prejudice, so the same plaintiff could sue again, and the filing reports no ruling on the merits.
The defendants and the claims
Jan Durbin filed the class action complaint on April 6, 2026 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Case No. 1:26-cv-00346-MB. The defendants named in the 10-Q are Medpace Holdings, Inc., August J. Troendle, Jesse J. Geiger and Kevin M. Brady. Mr. Troendle is Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board, and Mr. Brady is Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer.
The complaint alleged violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5, claiming the defendants made materially false and misleading statements related to the company's book-to-bill ratio to deceive the market. These are allegations only. The plaintiff sought unspecified damages, interest, attorneys' fees, expert fees and other costs. On October 12, 2026, the plaintiff filed a notice of voluntary dismissal, without prejudice.
Derivative suits over the same statements
Two stockholder derivative complaints, brought on behalf of the company, also concern the book-to-bill statements. Stephen Bushansky filed Case No. 1:26-cv-617 on June 22, 2026 against the company and certain current and past officers and directors: Mr. Troendle, Mr. Geiger, Mr. Brady, Susan E. Burwig, Stephen P. Ewald, Brian T. Carley, Fred B. Davenport, Jr., Femida H. Gwadry-Sridhar, Robert O. Kraft, Cornelius P. "Neal" McCarthy III and Dani Zander. He alleged violations of Section 14(a) of the Exchange Act and Rule 14a-9, plus state law claims of breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting, and unjust enrichment, and sought unspecified damages, restitution and disgorgement of profits. On October 20, 2026, he filed a notice of voluntary dismissal, without prejudice.
Stephen J. Mary filed a second derivative complaint, Case No. 1:26-cv-865, on August 25, 2026 against the company and the same eleven individuals, alleging breach of fiduciary duties through false or misleading statements that were not corrected. aibio.space could not confirm from the filing how the Mary case stands, so readers should not assume it has ended.
What the company says
Medpace states that losses already recognized on its legal proceedings were immaterial as of September 30, 2026. It adds that a loss exceeding those amounts is reasonably possible, but that it believes any such loss was immaterial at that date. That is the company's own assessment, not a court finding.
Insider sales while the suits were pending
The filing lists trading arrangements by three named defendants. On July 27, 2026, Mr. Troendle placed a limit order to sell up to 307,959 shares, and he modified the limit price on August 20, 2026. Ms. Burwig, Executive Vice President, Operations, placed a limit order the same day to sell up to 7,500 shares. On August 20, 2026, Mr. Brady placed a limit order to sell up to 3,400 shares issued through a contemporaneous exercise of stock options. The filing does not link these orders to the litigation.
The business behind the lawsuits
Medpace describes itself as one of the world's leading clinical contract research organizations by revenue, focused on outsourced clinical development for the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. For the three months ended September 30, 2026 it reported revenue of $716,000 thousand against $659,903 thousand a year earlier, and net income of $137,460 thousand against $111,135 thousand. Reimbursed out-of-pocket expenses, which pass through its revenue, rose to $902,407 thousand for the nine months from $716,505 thousand, so not all of the growth reflects its own services.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $705.3 million, up from $497.0 million at December 31, 2025, and the company reported no indebtedness. In the nine months it repurchased 705,616 shares for $294.7 million, though it made no repurchases in the third quarter.
The dismissal removes the securities class action for now, but a refiled complaint remains possible.