As new competition arrives for its best-selling Botox treatment, Allergan (AGN) is asking the International Trade Commission to investigate a pair of rival companies for allegedly stealing trade secrets for a new version of its medicine.
In its complaint, Allergan contended a former employee at Medytox, which has a deal to supply the drug maker with a newer wrinkle-smoothing treatment that is still being tested, stole detailed information and provided the material to Daewoong Pharmaceuticals. Late last week, meanwhile, Daewoong and Evolus (EOLS) won Food and Drug Administration approval for Jeuveau, a Botox competitor due to become available this spring.
Specifically, Allergan alleged B.K. Lee, a former Medytox researcher, had access to proprietary information about botulinum neurotoxin strains being developed, as well as step-by-step manufacturing plans. But he surreptitiously took the information and after leaving in 2008, became a consultant to Daewoong, which three years later began domestic marketing of what is now called Jeuveau.
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