Jury awards Biohaven and Yale $4M in trade secret case

A federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware found that Avilar Therapeutics, Inc. and RA Capital Management GP, LLC willfully and maliciously misappropriated a trade secret developed at Yale University, awarding Biohaven Ltd. (NYSE: BHVN) and Yale a combined $4 million in damages.

The jury returned its verdict on July 24, 2026, following a trial that began July 20, 2026. The damages were divided as follows: $2 million to Yale for RA Capital's breach of a 2019 confidentiality agreement, and $1 million each to Yale and Biohaven for trade secret misappropriation.

The trade secret at issue is Yale's "MODA" targeted protein degradation platform, developed by Dr. David Spiegel, a Yale professor. The technology is designed to bind and eliminate disease-causing extracellular proteins from the body. Biohaven holds a license from Yale to develop and commercialize the platform.

According to the case background, RA Capital entered into a confidentiality agreement with Yale in April 2019 to evaluate a potential investment in the technology. Dr. Spiegel shared confidential technical information with RA Capital during negotiations, which ended without an agreement in August 2019. Biohaven and Yale alleged that RA Capital subsequently used that confidential information to help establish Avilar Therapeutics and build a competing drug development program.

Biohaven and Yale filed suit in March 2023.

"This verdict confirms what we have said since we filed this case: RA Capital and Avilar improperly used confidential information to advance a competing company, and the jury agreed that they did so willfully and maliciously," said Dr. Vlad Coric, Chief Executive Officer of Biohaven.

Biohaven was represented by K&L Gates LLP and Morris James LLP. Yale was represented by Susman Godfrey LLP and Farnan LLP.

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