This undated image, captured from the website of Medytox Inc., shows the company’s botulinum products.
SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — A U.S. court accepted a motion to dismiss a patent suit by South Korean drugmaker Medytox Inc. against its local rival Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. over a botulinum toxin strain, company officials here said Thursday.
Medytox had sued Daewoong in the Eastern District Court of Virginia and the Central District Court of California as part of a long-running intellectual property fight.
On Sept. 29 (local time), Medytox submitted a motion to dismiss the case with the Eastern District Court of Virginia, which has been accepted by the judge, the Daewoong officials said.
The suit accuses Daewoong of misappropriating manufacturing trade secrets from Medytox and seeks judgment that Medytox is entitled to ownership of a patent claiming the manufacturing method.
The case follows the related U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) litigation between the two companies that ruled Daewoong Pharmaceutical copied the manufacturing process of a botulinum toxin strain.
Following the two lawsuits, Medytox reached a settlement with Ion Biopharma, a U.S. partner company that has the exclusive right to import and sell Daewoong’s botulinum toxin Nabota in the U.S., Europe and Canada.
The two Korean firms are also awaiting closure with the Central District Court of California.
The long-running dispute began in January 2019, when Medytox — along with development partner Allergan plc — filed a complaint with the ITC, alleging that Daewoong Pharmaceutical stole trade secrets related to turning the deadly botulinum toxin into a wrinkle treatment and introduced the product to the U.S. market.
Daewoong Pharmaceutical has rebutted the argument, saying its botulinum toxin product has its own indigenous strain and that Medytox is trying to block U.S. imports of its rival product.
Medytox has its own botulinum toxin product called Meditoxin, which won South Korea’s first license in 2006 and has maintained the No. 2 position in the country. It is effective in treating various muscle spasms, overactive muscle diseases and facial wrinkles.
Daewoong then released its botulinum toxin named Nabota in the country in 2014. The product also won sales approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in February 2019.
(Yonhap)
