BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

Allergan, Merz neurology news

March 19, 2012 7:00 AM UTC

Allergan said a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued an injunction preventing Merz from selling Xeomin incobotulinumtoxinA in facial aesthetics indications to certain physicians in the U.S. for 10 months. The ruling by Andrew Guilford concluded that Merz violated California's Uniform Trade Secrets Act by misappropriating important trade secrets belonging to Allergan, including "the specific identities and financial details (including sales targets, actual sales amounts, and product volumes over time)" of Allergan's relationships with its physician customers in the U.S. for Allergan's neurology products Botox onabotulinumtoxinA, Botox Cosmetic and Juvederm. Allergan filed the suit in August 2010 following suspected disclosure of trade secrets to Merz by former Allergan sales employees that were recruited by Merz while still employed at Allergan. Merz launched Xeomin in the U.S. in September 2010. Allergan reported $1.6 billion in worldwide Botox/Neuromodulator revenues in 2011. Merz said in a statement on March 14 that it "regrets that individual employees have violated our longstanding guidelines." Details were not disclosed (see BioCentury, Oct. 10, 2010).

Separately, Allergan said judges in Germany and Spain ruled in favor of Allergan in two separate cases against Merz regarding the non-interchangeability between different marketed botulinum toxin products. The rulings are in line with FDA's 2009 requirement that manufacturers of all botulinum toxin products implement a REMS designed to prevent medication errors related to the lack of inter-changeability between different marketed botulinum toxin products (see BioCentury, May 11, 2009). ...