By: Aaron Kim, ITMG Insider Threat Analyst
Terran Biosciences Inc is suing Compass Pathways for the theft of trade secrets. The trade secret surrounds the treatment of depression and other mental health conditions with a combination of psilocybin and a H-HT2A antagonist that has been patented by Compass Pathways but was allegedly taken from Scott Thompson, a Terran researcher at the University of Maryland Baltimore.
According to the lawsuit, Terran alleges that Thompson had been conducting research on the “idea of co-administration of psilocybin with a 5-HT2A antagonist as a potential rapid, non-hallucinogenic antidepressant therapy” since 2016. Thompson kept his research confidential until he started filing patent applications “disclosing and claiming certain of his then-trade secret inventions”, in August 2019. Thompson ends up signing a non-disclosure agreement with Compass Pathways and started “numerous substantive discussions and negotiations” regarding a potential partnership.
Furthermore, in the lawsuit, Compass consistently told Thompson about their interest in a partnership. He then disclosed his trade secrets in confidence, under the protection of the NDA that had been signed. In November 2019, Compass “abruptly ended negotiations” with Thompson and the University of Maryland Baltimore, stating that it would not enter a collaboration agreement for psilocybin research with them. Terran, therefore, concludes that Compass “misappropriated and continues to misappropriate the Psilocybin Trade Secrets for its own gain.”
Terran signed a licensing agreement in 2021 with the University of Maryland Baltimore for an exclusive license to the Psilocybin Trade Secrets. That deal gives Terran “the first and primary” to prosecute and control any action of misappropriation of that information and is directly related to the current lawsuit.
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