Callisto, Ironwood gastrointestinal news
Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OTCQB:SGYPD, New York, N.Y.), which is majority owned by Callisto, filed a suit in the N.Y. State Supreme Court against Ironwood and its SVP of R&D and Chief Scientific Officer Mark Currie. The suit alleges that statements made by Ironwood to the European Patent Office and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in opposition to patents covering Synergy's SP-304 constituted unfair competition, fraud and unjust enrichment.
In April 2010, European Patent No. 1,379,224 was granted to Synergy, which Ironwood opposed before the EPO issued the patent. Synergy alleges that Ironwood presented false and misleading information in an unfair attempt to prevent the patent from being issued. Specifically, Ironwood compared the efficacy of SP-304, a guanylate cyclase C ( GCC; GUCY2C) agonist, to only the active form of uroguanylin, a naturally occurring GCC agonist. Synergy said that while uroguanylin converts from active to inactive form in under 24 hours, SP-304 resists such conversion. Synergy also alleged that Ironwood made false and misleading statements regarding SP-304-related U.S. Patent Nos. 7,041,786 and 7,799,897. ...