By Mark Chael --
An intellectual property lawsuit is slated to begin on
March 12, 2007, pitting Genzyme Corp. against three
executives at a Canadian firm, Cytochroma, which
is developing therapies for vitamin D
deficiency and chronic kidney disease
(CKD). Genzyme alleges that the
executives misappropriated trade secrets and other intellectual property prior
to joining Cytochroma.
In early 2005, Genzyme acquired Bone Care International,
a spinoff from the University of Wisconsin, for a reported $600 million. There are 38 U.S. patents and about 22 pending U.S. patent applications that list Bone Care as the assignee. Later, in September, 2005, a company called Proventiv Therapeutics was
founded by former employees of Bone Care. Thereafter, in 2006, Cytochroma acquired Proventiv. Cytochroma recently completed a round of
venture financing to start human clinical trials on drug compounds for treating
vitamin D deficiency in patients with kidney disease.
Genzyme's lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for
the Western District of Wisconsin (06-C-0428-S), alleges that the three
Cytochroma executives, who were former Bone Care and Proventiv employees, used
Bone Care trade secrets while they were working at Proventiv to develop CKD
treatments that were later acquired by Cytochroma. The executives contend that the compounds
they were working on at Proventiv were in the public domain.
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