It was not a full halt, it was not a safety halt, it was a “partial halt” and the only thing affected was the placebo arm, and given that it was already a crossover, it was not what shorts made it out to be.
And the fact was, the company ultimately did disclose it, but they might have been in negotiations with regulators as to the meaning and process when AF got hold of confidential information. The more meaningful question is how did AF get made aware of the confidential information before it was disclosed?