The jury found that Avilar and RA Capital willfully and maliciously misappropriated a Yale trade secret relating to its "MODA" targeted protein degradation platform, and that RA Capital separately breached its 2019 confidentiality agreement with Yale. The jury awarded Yale and Biohaven a combined $4 million in damages — $2 million to Yale for RA Capital's breach of contract, and $1 million each to Yale and Biohaven for trade secret misappropriation.
"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. "We are grateful to the jury for paying careful attention to the evidence and to our legal team for their extraordinary work at trial. Biohaven is appreciative for our continued partnership with academic institutions like Yale, and remains committed to our mission of discovering, developing, and commercializing life-changing therapies for people with debilitating diseases."
Karen Peart, Yale's Associate Vice President for Communications, added, "Dr. Spiegel's work is the product of years of novel and rigorous research on extracellular degraders at Yale and exemplifies the innovative scholarship Yale faculty have advanced for decades. Yale is committed to fostering an environment where groundbreaking discoveries can flourish, improving lives, driving economic growth, and strengthening America's competitiveness. Through collaborations with industry partners, the university helps ensure that promising discoveries can be translated efficiently into products and therapies that serve the public good. These relationships depend on trust, integrity, and respect for the legal obligations that enable universities and industry to work together to advance innovation."
Biohaven was represented by K&L Gates LLP and Morris James LLP. Susman Godfrey LLP and Farnan LLP represented Yale.
Background of the Case
- Dr. David Spiegel, a professor at Yale, developed the MODA platform, a technology designed to bind and eliminate disease-causing extracellular proteins from the body, and presented it at Yale's Lifesciences Pitchfest in 2018.
- RA Capital, a healthcare-focused investment firm, subsequently entered into a confidentiality agreement with Yale in April 2019 to evaluate a potential investment in and partnership around the technology.
- Over the following months, Dr. Spiegel shared confidential and detailed technical information with RA Capital, and the parties negotiated the terms of a possible deal. Those negotiations ended without an agreement in August 2019.
- Biohaven and Yale alleged that RA Capital, together with Avilar Therapeutics, a company RA Capital helped establish later that year, used confidential information from those discussions to build a competing drug development program instead of pursuing a partnership with Yale.
- Biohaven licensed the MODA platform from Yale to develop and commercialize the technology.
- Biohaven and Yale filed suit against Avilar and RA Capital in March 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, alleging trade secret misappropriation and breach of the confidentiality agreement between Yale and RA Capital. The case proceeded to a jury trial beginning July 20, 2026 and the jury returned its verdict on July 24, 2026.