A cross-office Fenwick litigation team secured a favorable resolution for Avalyn Pharma, a longtime firm client that develops therapies for devastating lung diseases. In late 2020, Richard Vincent, a former shareholder of a company that Avalyn had acquired, alleged that Avalyn had breached duties to investigate Patent Rights and develop compounds that Avalyn had obtained through that acquisition. In brief, Vincent claimed that Avalyn had (1) not invested enough resources into pursuing the assets Avalyn had acquired and (2) failed to bring one of those assets into a Phase 1 clinical trial fast enough. Vincent demanded that Avalyn return the Patent Rights to him, which cover certain compounds that Avalyn was and is developing.
Avalyn won significant dispositive and evidentiary pre-trial motions, knocking out Vincent’s first claim on summary judgment and preventing him from introducing evidence at trial. Avalyn was therefore able to settle the case the day before trial was scheduled to begin for an insignificant amount.
The Fenwick litigation team included litigation partners David Tellekson and Robert Counihan and associates Nick Klenow, Michelle Irwin, Andrew Kral, Hannah Reid, and Catherine McCord.