Aligos Therapeutics files court response and counterclaims to J&J’s allegations of theft

Aligos Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ALGS) on Wednesday said it had responded to allegations of theft made by Janssen Biopharma and had filed counterclaims in court against the Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) unit.

In March, Janssen had filed a complaint in a California court against ALGS and its co-founders – CEO Lawrence Blatt and president Leonid Beigelman.

According to a media report, Janssen had alleged that ALGS was built on intellectual property and information stolen from it. Janssen also claimed that Blatt and Beigelman had developed a line of hepatitis B virus (HBV) targeting products using its resources and formed ALGS.

ALGS said its response filed in California State Superior Court for the County of San Mateo identified publicly available information, previous work experience, publications and patents which had been used to build its HBV portfolio.

“The response further outlines and documents that all work was performed by Aligos employees after leaving Janssen Biopharma,” ALGS said in Wednesday’s statement.

Additionally, the company said it had filed counterclaims against Janssen alleging that it had engaged in “unfair competition” and “promissory fraud.”

Blatt and Beigelman also joined ALGS in filing the counterclaims.

ALGS stock +1.8% to $1.12 after hours, while shares of JNJ were flat.