AbbVie sues rival BeiGene over alleged theft of cancer therapy secrets
By Mike Scarcella
Sept 9 (Reuters) -Pharmaceutical giant AbbVie ABBV.N has sued cancer treatment maker BeiGene 6160.HK in Chicago federal court, accusing it of stealing trade secrets to develop a competing cancer-fighting therapy after hiring away a former longtime senior AbbVie scientist.
AbbVie’s lawsuit, filed on Friday, alleged it had invested millions of dollars and “years of research” into developing a compound that might treat certain types of blood and bone marrow cancers that are associated with the growth of “B cells.”
The lawsuit focuses on the companies’ development of a cancer therapy drug called a “BTK degrader,” which targets and destroys a molecule present in B cell growth. Such cells produce antibodies that fight infection.
North Chicago-based AbbVie alleged that BeiGene, which has administrative offices in Basel, Beijing and Cambridge, Massachusetts, “enticed and encouraged” former AbbVie scientist Huaqing Liu to use his former employer’s trade secrets “to advance and accelerate” BeiGene’s BTK degrader program. Liu was named a defendant.
BeiGene in a statement on Monday denied AbbVie’s allegations and said the company will “vigorously defend our intellectual property rights against this lawsuit.”
AbbVie’s lawsuit was “introduced to hamper” the development of BeiGene’s competing BTK degrader, called BGB-16673, BeiGene’s statement said.
BeiGene said it filed patent applicationsfor BGB-16673 before AbbVie made a patent filing for its BTK degrader. The company also said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this year granted “fast track” designation to its drug, which is being used in a study to treat types of leukemia and lymphoma.
AbbVie and attorneys for the company at law firm Jones Day did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Liu started work at BeiGene in September 2019 after retiring from AbbVie, the lawsuit said. He had worked on AbbVie’s BTK degrader program for at least a year, according to the complaint.
“BeiGene encouraged and induced Liu to disclose AbbVie’s BTK degrader trade secret designs and information knowing he had an obligation to AbbVie to maintain their secrecy,” the lawsuit said.
AbbVie said it was seeking unspecified monetary damages and a court order to “recover and protect its trade secret and confidential information.”
The case is AbbVie v BeiGene Ltd et al, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, No. 1:24-cv-08167.
For AbbVie: Jason Winchester, Andrea Jeffries and Randall Kay of Jones Day
For BeiGene: No appearance yet
Read more:
Botox rival Revance loses bid to dismiss Allergan trade secrets lawsuit
AbbVie lawsuit says rival Adcentrx stole anti-cancer secrets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
