DNA plasmid manufacturer VGXI Inc. filed suit against a Chinese biotechnology company alleging the company stole proprietary technology through its collaboration with another drugmaker.
The suit is the most recent development in VGXI’s ongoing dispute with Pennsylvania-based Inovio, a company that had sought to obtain the DNA company’s technology in 2020 to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, an effort that was ultimately unsuccessful.
According to VGXI’s complaint, which Blank Rome filed May 18 in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, Inovio released confidential information about the plaintiff’s technology to Beijing Advaccine Biotechnology Co. Ltd. when the two drugmakers partnered to produce a vaccine. The complaint alleges that Advaccine “improperly used and disclosed VGXI’s trade secrets, which it should never have possessed but for Inovio’s illegal activities.”
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Daniel Rhynhart, Michael Iannucci and Serena Gopal are representing VGXI in both cases, which are captioned VGXI v. Beijing Advaccine Biotechnology and Inovio v. VGXI.
“VGXI filed this lawsuit against Beijing Advaccine in an effort to protect its intellectual property rights, and looks forward to its day in court,” Rhynhart said in an emailed statement.
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"DNA Company Sues Chinese Vaccine Producer in Ongoing Dispute Over COVID Tech," by Aleeza Furman was published in The Legal Intelligencer on May 27, 2022.