Brigham Young University and one of its professors have accused Pfizer Inc. of fraud and misappropriation of trade secrets, among other things, in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City.
The complaint claims that the institution has lost at least $1-billion in profits from sales of the company's popular painkiller, Celebrex.Celebrex belongs to a class of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs known as Cox-2 inhibitors.
According to the complaint, Daniel L. Simmons, a professor at Brigham Young, discovered the Cox-2 enzyme, which led to the creation of those drugs. Celebrex, which is now sold by Pfizer, has had sales exceeding $20-billion.
The lawsuit contends that Mr. Simmons brought his work to the pharmaceutical division of the Monsanto Corporation for further collaborative research, and entered into an agreement in 1991 that required the company to notify the university if the research produced any patents that could yield profits. (Through a series of subsequent mergers and spinoffs, that division became part of Pfizer in 2003.)
"Monsanto took Dr. Simmons' findings and technologies and went on to develop a blockbuster drug, Celebrex, without him, which we believe violated the terms of the contract by sharing none of the credit nor compensation," Michael Smart, a Brigham Young spokesman, said in an e-mail message.
Mr. Smart said the university filed the lawsuit after seven years of discussions over the issue.
A mediator was hired in January, but the dispute was not resolved.
Bryant Haskins, a Pfizer spokesman, said that Mr. Simmons had "played no role in the discovery of Celebrex" and that the complaint was full of "baseless allegations."
"We will mount a vigorous defense," he said.
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