Medytox may have felt it worthwhile to file a lawsuit against Daewoong Pharmaceutical with the International Trade Commission (ITC) and nullify the ITC ban on Daewoong’s imports in a settlement with its U.S. partner Allergan and Daewoong’s partner Evolus.
Medytox announced it would enter another legal fight against a botulinum toxin (BTX) maker regarding its BTX strains and manufacturing process.
On Tuesday, Medytox said it named law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP to represent the company in protecting Medytox’s intellectual property of BTX strains and the manufacturing process.
The company’s recent winning in the ITC lawsuit against Daewoong Pharmaceutical established the reason and justification for protecting Medytox’s IP rights. The company plans to restore its legitimate rights to all Korean companies pursuing overseas by infringing on Medytox’s IP rights, it said.
Medytox introduced Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP as one of the world’s best law firms in IP protection specializing in litigation and international arbitration. The law firm represented Samsung Electronics in the global smartphone war between Samsung and Apple and Samsung and Huawei and derived good results for Samsung. It also helped Mirae Asset Financial Group affiliates win a U.S. court case against a large Chinese insurer.
However, Medytox did not disclose which company it would fight.
“We’re not at the right stage to disclose the name of the company. But we can say that we will fight against all (Korean) companies trying to expand in the overseas market by infringing on our IP rights,” an official at Medytox said. “There is no problem in paying legal fees. We can handle it.”
Two licensing deals lead to solid Q2 earnings
Medytox recorded 43.9 billion won ($37.6 million) consolidated sales, 4.4 billion won operating income, and 31.7 billion won net income in the second quarter. Operating earnings turned positive for the first time in seven quarters since the third quarter of 2019.
The robust earnings resulted from increased revenue from BTX products that returned to normal levels from the first quarter, no more legal costs after winning the ITC suit, and settlement and royalty payments from two licensing deals, the company said.
In February, after winning the ITC suit against Daewoong, Medytox signed a licensing agreement with Evolus, the U.S. importer of Daewoong products. Under the agreement, the settlement payment from Evolus and the value of the stake (about 53.5 billion won) were reflected as other income in the first quarter, and the separate sales royalties were also reflected from the first quarter.
Out of the $35 million settlement to be paid by Evolus to Medytox and Allergan, Medytox’s share was reflected in the financial statement of the first quarter, and cash deposits started in July.
Also, the financial statement reflected a 39.4 billion won worth stake in Aeon Biopharma that Medytox acquired through a licensing agreement in June.