Emcure says court should dismiss COVID vaccine secrets suit
Indian pharmaceutical company Emcure has asked a Washington court to toss a lawsuit accusing the company of stealing trade secrets related to a COVID-19 vaccine.
HDT Bio accused Emcure and its US-based subsidiary Gennova Biopharmaceuticals of appropriating trade secrets related to its “Lion” COVID-19 vaccine delivery system, which it calls “the most advanced vaccine technology in the world”.
Given Emcure’s status as a generic drugmaker with a lack of history of developing original treatments, HDT said that it would be “truly stunning” if Gennova managed to develop its own vaccine without any confidential information.
Emcure filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Friday, May 13, claiming that the US District Court for the Western District of Washington has no jurisdiction over Emcure and suggested an Indian court as a more appropriate forum to litigate.
“To force Emcure to litigate in Washington where it is not at home and does not have any suit-related contacts would offend the traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice,” Emcure said.
HDT “weaved a convoluted tale” accusing Emcure of the actions of one of Gennova, despite the fact that Emcure “does not control” the subsidiary, the motion to dismiss claimed.
It also accused HDT Bio of falling short of basic pleading requirements by failing to identify any trade secrets that it had appropriated in the development of the vaccine platform.
It also said that, if the court ruled not to dismiss the lawsuit, proceedings should be stayed pending the resolution of a parallel trade secrets lawsuit between HDT and Gennova at the London Court of International Arbitration.
Both the Washington and London proceedings are “based on precisely the same conduct” and therefore continuing both cases will be a “wasteful and inefficient use of judicial and party resources”, Emcure said.
Allegations
According to the HDTs complaint, Emcure’s director Sanjay Singh contactedSteven Reed, HDT’s CEO, to strike a deal to bring the COVID-19 vaccine to market in India.
As a result, the two companies signed a material transfer agreement and a memorandum of understanding, which allowed Gennova to produce, test, and sell HDT’s “Lion” vaccine in India.
However, Gennova and HDT “Reached an impasse” and their collaboration ceased in fall 2021, leading to the termination of the licence agreement in November last year.
HDT said it then became aware of the fact that Emcure and/or Gennova had sought two Indian patents “on HDTs” technology. These filings described the COVID-19 vaccine as “indigenously developed” with Emcure’s “proprietary mRNA platform”, it claimed in the complaint.
HDT claims that it is owed $950 million in compensatory damages for the misappropriation of trade secrets and seeks a jury trial on the issue.
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