LSD therapy biotech Definium fends off trade-secret lawsuit
Definium Therapeutics, Inc. DFTX | 0.00 |
By Blake Brittain
July 1 (Reuters) - Psychedelic therapy developer Definium Therapeutics DFTX.O convinced a federal judge in Delaware on Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit from a clinical-trial provider that accused it of stealing trade secrets related to LSD trials.
U.S. District Judge Gregory Williams in Wilmington said that Signant Health's lawsuit failed to identify any protectable trade secrets that Definium allegedly misappropriated.
"Signant's allegations do not meaningfully distinguish the alleged protected information from general business information, nor do they provide facts sufficient to narrow or define the alleged trade secrets at issue," Williams said.
Williams dismissed the complaint without prejudice, which means it can be refiled.
Spokespeople and attorneys for the companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
New York-based Definium, formerly known as MindMed, is developing LSD therapies to treat depression, anxiety and other psychiatric disorders. Definium's LSD-based depression pill showed strong results in a late-stage trial, the company reported in June.
Definium hired Signant to assist with its Phase 2 clinical trials in 2021. It chose another company, EMA Wellness, to work on its Phase 3 trials in 2024.
Pennsylvania-based Signant's lawsuit said Definium executive Todd Solomon holds a financial stake in EMA and was secretly working to ensure EMA would secure Definium's business. Signant also said EMA copied its clinical trial platform, and that Definium and Solomon aided EMA by sharing its trade secrets with the company.
EMA is not a defendant in the case. Spokespeople for the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Definium told the court that Signant had only identified "broad categories of information, such as 'pricing,' and 'methodologies,'" that were not eligible for trade-secret protection.
The case is Signant Health Holding Corp v. Definium Therapeutics Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:26-cv-00114.
For Signant: Patrick Curran, Eric Wolkoff and Nathan Hamstra of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan; James Boudreau and Joseph Mahady of Reed Smith
For Definium: Kaitland Kennelly of Cooley
Read more:
LSD therapy biotech Definium sued for alleged trade secret theft
