BYU accuses Pfizer of swiping profits, credit for Celebrex

Salt Lake Tribune ^ | 10/18/2006 | Pamela Manson and Linda Fantin

[TChris]

Brigham Young University has accused pharmaceutical giant Pfizer of cheating the school out of profits and credit for the development of Celebrex, a blockbuster anti-inflammatory drug that has earned the company billions of dollars.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City against Pfizer and several of its predecessor companies after years of unsuccessful negotiations, BYU said. The suit seeks unspecified actual and punitive damages, but notes Celebrex sales have exceeded $20 billion.

It also seeks corrections in 75 patents in order to credit Professor Daniel L. Simmons for his discoveries. The suit alleges Simmons discovered the gene and enzyme that led to the development of a new brand of drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors.

Pfizer spokesman Bryant Haskins wouldn't address specific allegations in the lawsuit, but said it was "without merit," and the company "would vigorously defend our position in court."

The lawsuit alleges that BYU and Monsanto, a predecessor company of Pfizer, had a 1991 contract to collaborate on development of an aspirin-like drug, or a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). The deal called for Monsanto to notify the Provo university of patentable results from the project and for the school to profit from any of the discoveries...

[TChris]

Seems somebody doesn't want to pay up on their bargain.

[TChris]

- self bump -

[ThomasBurn]

I love celebrex now I don't have to take advil 3 times daily. I didn't realize that BYU did medical research.

[Hendrix]

All major universities do research and hold lots of patents.

[ASOC]

This will be fun to watch - BYU took on the FedGov some years back, and whipped thier collective a$$ in court.

Should do even better again "big pharmaceuticals"

We'll see.