Patent fight puts ALS drug at risk

A patent fight risks slowing development of an experimental treatment for Lou Gehrig’s disease from Neuraltus Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Swiss drug company Nuvo Research AG claims in a lawsuit filed last month in U.S. District Court for Northern California that a former consultant and University of California, San Francisco , professor, Dr. Michael McGrath, tapped research tied to its drug as the backbone of a treatment now in a mid-stage clinical trial led by Palo Alto’s Neuraltus.
The suit is significant because Neuraltus’ drug is one of a handful of potential treatments that have caught the attention of patients with the neurodegenerative disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
The case also underscores how biotech companies need solid intellectual property protection.