Biohaven与耶鲁获法院确认RA Capital和Avilar商业秘密案400万美元判决

NEW HAVEN, Conn.
,
Aug. 25, 2026
/PRNewswire/ -- Biohaven Ltd. and/or its wholly owned subsidiaries ("
Biohaven
") (NYSE: BHVN) and
Yale University
("Yale") today announced that the
U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware
has entered judgment in their favor in the trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract litigation against
Avilar Therapeutics, Inc.
("
Avilar
") and
RA Capital Management GP, LLC
("
RA Capital
"). The judgment follows the jury's
July 24, 2026
verdict and formalizes a combined
$4 million
award to Yale and
Biohaven
.
Entered by the Honorable
Jennifer L. Hall
, United States District Judge, the judgment reflects the jury's findings that
RA Capital
and
Avilar
willfully and maliciously misappropriated a Yale trade secret relating to its "MODA" targeted protein degradation platform, and that
RA Capital
separately breached its 2019 confidentiality agreement with Yale. Consistent with the verdict, the Court entered judgment awarding a combined
$4
million:
$2 million
to Yale for
RA Capital's
breach of contract, and
$1 million
each to Yale and
Biohaven
for trade secret misappropriation.
Biohaven
was represented by
K&L Gates LLP
and
Morris James LLP
.
Susman Godfrey LLP
and
Farnan LLP
represented Yale.
Background of the Case
Dr.
David Spiegel
, a professor at Yale, developed the MODA platform, a technology designed to bind and eliminate disease-causing extracellular proteins from the body, and presented it at Yale's Lifesciences Pitchfest in 2018.
RA Capital
, a healthcare-focused investment firm, subsequently entered into a confidentiality agreement with Yale in
April 2019
to evaluate a potential investment in and partnership around the technology.
Over the following months,
Dr. Spiegel
shared confidential and detailed technical information with
RA Capital
, and the parties negotiated the terms of a possible deal. Those negotiations ended without an agreement in
August 2019
.
Biohaven
and Yale
alleged
that
RA Capital
, together with
Avilar Therapeutics
, a company
RA Capital
helped establish later that year, used confidential information from those discussions to build a competing drug development program instead of pursuing a partnership with Yale.
Biohaven
licensed the MODA platform from Yale to develop and commercialize the technology.
Biohaven
and Yale filed suit against
Avilar
and
RA Capital
in
March 2023
in the
U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware
, alleging trade secret misappropriation and breach of the confidentiality agreement between
Yale and RA Capital
. The case proceeded to a jury trial beginning
July 20, 2026
, and the jury returned its verdict on
July 24, 2026
.
On
August 24, 2026
, the Court entered judgment following the jury verdict, formalizing the combined
$4 million
award. Following the entry of judgment, the parties may file post-trial motions, and the judgment is subject to the Court's consideration of those motions.
About Biohaven
Biohaven Ltd. (NYSE: BHVN) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of life-changing therapies for people with debilitating diseases, with a broad pipeline spanning neuroscience, immunology, and other therapeutic areas. For more information, visit
biohaven.com
.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The use of certain words, including "continue", "plan", "will", "believe", "may", "expect", "potentially", "potentially groundbreaking" and similar expressions, is intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the litigation described above and its ultimate outcome, are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Actual results, developments and events may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors including: the outcome of legal proceedings, including any post-trial motions, appeals, and the final amount of any award or recovery; the expected timing, commencement and outcomes of Biohaven's planned and ongoing clinical trials; the timing of planned interactions and filings with the FDA; the timing and outcome of expected regulatory filings; complying with applicable U.S. regulatory requirements; the potential commercialization of Biohaven's product candidates; and the effectiveness and safety of Biohaven's product candidates. Additional important factors to be considered in connection with forward-looking statements are described in Biohaven's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including within the sections titled "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations". The forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and Biohaven does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Investor Contact
:
Jennifer Porcelli
Vice President, Investor Relations, Biohaven
jennifer.porcelli@biohavenpharma.com
+1 (201) 248-0741
Media Contact
:
Renée Soto
Founding Partner, Reevemark
renee.soto@reevemark.com
+1 (212) 433-4606
View original content to download multimedia:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/federal-court-enters-judgment-confirming-ra-capital-and-avilar-therapeutics-willfully-and-maliciously-misappropriated-trade-secret-developed-at-yale-formalizing-4-million-award-to-biohaven-and-yale-university-302859834.html
SOURCE Biohaven Ltd.