$34M contract dispute stems from SillaJen’s 2014 acquisition of Jennerex

WILMINGTON, Delaware – Former shareholders of San Francisco-based Jennerex, Inc. today announced the filing of a $34 million breach of contract lawsuit in Delaware state court against South Korea-based SillaJen, Inc.

The lawsuit, filed under seal due to confidential corporate information, claims that SillaJen has failed to make payments tied to three contractual milestones as part of its acquisition of Jennerex, which closed in March 2014. The filing alleges that those clinical and regulatory milestones have been achieved based on patient enrollment in several qualifying clinical trials.

According to the lawsuit, terms of the 2014 sale provided SillaJen with the rights to Jennerex’s lead pharmaceutical compound, Pexa-Vec, designated for the treatment of various forms of cancer. Pexa-Vec is engineered to selectively target cancer cells and activate an immune response to kill tumor cells throughout the body. Unlike other therapies that rely on a single target, Pexa-Vec is applicable to multiple solid tumor types.

The former shareholders claim that SillaJen has acted in bad faith in its refusal to make the milestone payments. The lawsuit seeks all payments due, as well as interest and attorneys’ fees.

The lawsuit was filed by Paul J. Skiermont, Sarah E. Spires, Steven W. Hartsell and Christopher M. Hodge of Dallas-based Skiermont Derby LLP, and Patricia A. Winston and Kathleen A. Murphy of Morris James LLP in Wilmington.

Skiermont Derby LLP is a trial boutique founded in 2011 with offices in Dallas and Los Angeles. The national legal publication Law360 recently recognized Skiermont Derby as one of the top 10 boutique practices in the U.S. that are “on par with the biggest firms.” The firm represents plaintiffs and defendants in high stakes intellectual property and commercial litigation. To learn more about Skiermont Derby LLP, visit http://skiermontderby.com.

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