Generic Emcure stole COVID-19 vaccine trade secrets, lawsuit claims

US pharma company HDT Bio has accused Emcure Pharmaceuticals of the “blatant theft” of its COVID-19 vaccine technology in a new lawsuit.

The Seattle-based company filed the complaint against the Indian generic drug maker at the US District Court for the Western District of Washington on March 21.

According to the lawsuit, the dispute dates from Emcure’s announcement that it intends to go public on the strength of its so-called “proprietary mRNA platform,” which includes a COVID-19 vaccine.

But the complaint contends that this mRNA platform and vaccine belong to HDT Bio, and accused Emcure of spinning a Cinderella-style “fairy tale spun to lure investors to a generics maker whose prior attempt to go public failed for lack of interest”.

“Emcure claims that the vaccine and platform were developed by its minor subsidiary Gennova Biopharmaceuticals. Were that true, it would be stunning. Emcure and Gennova have no track record of developing original products. They also have no prior experience,” the complaint alleged.

“The truth is mundane: Emcure stole HDT’s technology, which HDT had licensed to its subsidiary Gennova for manufacture and distribution in India,” the lawsuit added.

According to HDT, its vaccine tech, HDT-301 uses mRNA to teach the immune system how to fight the virus, and that it dramatically improves upon existing vaccines as it is “safer, cheaper, more portable, and likely more effective than the mRNA vaccines on the market”.

It further insisted that: “This was possible because HDT scientists have dedicated their careers to harnessing the body’s immune system to fight diseases against which it is otherwise ineffective. Emcure got its hands on a saRNA vaccine in a faster way: by stealing it from HDT.”

According to HDT Bio, Emcure director and Gennova CEO Sanjay Singh visited HDT’s headquarters in Seattle in January 2020, where he met with HDT CEO Steven Reed.

HDT and Emcure subsidiary Gennova then entered into various contracts, culminating in a licensing agreement giving Gennova a limited licence to use HDT’s technology to develop and sell a COVID-19 vaccine in India.

In exchange, HDT received payments and royalties along with an unrestricted licence to use Gennova’s data to develop and sell the vaccine everywhere else.

HDT insisted that under the agreement it retained all rights to the transferred technology, which also stipulated that HDT would jointly own any improvements that Gennova might make to HDT’s inventions.

In the suit, HDT said that it shared its secrets liberally and that Emcure and its subsidiary initially acted like partners.

“And when Emcure and Gennova—together—sought regulatory approval to conduct clinical trials in India, they promised that the characteristics, specifications, dosage, and storage temperature would be ‘the same as that of HDT 301 vaccine developed by M/S HDT, Seattle, USA’,” noted the complaint.

But HDT claimed that by late 2021, Emcure was proclaiming HDT-301 and the technology behind it as its own, and Emcure and/or Gennova sought two Indian patents on HDT’s technology over the summer.

It also alleged that by August, Emcure had published a draft “red herring” prospectus, a preliminary regulatory filing registering for a public stock offering in India, that describes the COVID-19 vaccine as “indigenously developed,” touts Emcure’s “proprietary mRNA platform,” and does not mention HDT.

“By fall of 2021, Emcure and Gennova were refusing to share clinical data on the vaccine’s safety and efficacy with HDT,” the filing added.

Singh then asserted that Emcure and Gennova could sell their vaccine without paying HDT royalties, and Gennova then terminated the licensing agreement

According to HDT, Emcure willfully and maliciously violated the Defend Trade Secrets Act and Washington’s laws against trade secret theft, and that it is consequently entitled to compensatory and exemplary damages and injunctive relief.

“Like anyone else who wants to use HDT’s revolutionary technology, Emcure must compensate its inventors and owners,” the filing stated.

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