Alnylam says alleged 'stealing' was covered by RNAi agreements: Tekmira still confident
This article was originally published in Scrip
Tekmira Pharmaceuticals has said that Alnylam's filing of an answer and counterclaim on 7 April to its recent US lawsuit alleging misappropriation of trade secrets "is an expected development in this litigation".
Tekmira said it has reviewed the counterclaim and remains confident in its position. Its original lawsuit was filed last month (scripintelligence.com, 18 March 2011) and Tekmira CEO Dr Mark Murray has said that Tekmira is prepared to pursue its suit until it has a fair and satisfactory resolution. The suit alleges that its siRNA partner, Alnylam, breached a 2007 licensing agreement, and along with misusing trade secrets, applied for patents based on Tekmira's proprietary technology on its lipid nanoparticle (LNP) siRNA delivery technology.
Alnylam's answer, in its latest filing with the Massachusetts Superior Court, is that the Tekmira suit is "meritless and unjustified". Alnylam's principle argument seems to be that the agreements between it and Tekmira describe the interactions that it has with its other partners and clients, and that it has not strayed beyond those agreements.
It states, "Although one would not know it from reading Tekmira's complaint, the relationship between Alnylam and Tekmira is governed by extensive and detailed contracts. Specific provisions in the contracts dictate the rights and responsibilities of the parties, including among other things, access to and use of confidential information, ownership, and control of intellectual property, and financial terms. Tellingly, Tekmira barely even mentions the parties' contractual agreements in its complaint and instead uses its court filing to commence a public campaign of disparagement of Alnylam".
Alnylam also makes the counterclaim that Tekmira has broken those agreements by going public with its complaints. "Tekmira explicitly violated the confidential and non-public alternative dispute resolution procedures required under the parties' agreement." Alnylam's filing claims. Tekmira exacerbated matters, the claim continues, by "immediately post[ing] a copy of its complaint on its website making it readily accessible to the public, conduct[ing] an investor call in which its CEO unlawfully disparaged Alnylam by accusing it of 'stealing' the plaintiffs' technology, and issu[ing] a press release accusing Alnylam of 'illegal conduct'."
Addressing the 'stealing' accusation directly, Alnylam claims that it is astonishing that Tekmira "fails even to acknowledge that Alnylam obtained rights to Tekmira's technology not by stealing it, but pursuant to agreements that resulted in substantial benefit to Tekmira."
Alnylam further said that Tekmira's allegations in the suit are inconsistent with its own prior representations.