Novo Nordisk is seeking as much as US$830 million in damages in a Singapore court, saying that it was misled by a local biotech firm about the effectiveness of an experimental hypertension drug.
KBP Biosciences and its founder led the Danish drugmaker to believe they had “developed a new and effective drug to treat hypertension and kidney disease”, according to a ruling the court made public this week.
Novo bought the medicine, called ocedurenone, from closely held KBP Biosciences for as much as US$1.3 billion in late 2023. Less than a year later, it halted a clinical trial because the treatment was not working and announced an impairment loss of about US$800 million.
Singapore’s International Commercial Court agreed to freeze the company’s assets and those of founder Huang Zhenhua, according to the ruling. Novo is launching legal proceedings against KBP in New York, the court said.
KBP “failed to disclose material information” including interim analyses of clinical trial results, the judge said. Huang “arguably knew and participated in these misrepresentations”.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. BLOOMBERG
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