Tentative Ruling on Defendants' Motion for Leave to File Cross-Complaint Retrovirox v. Scripps Research Institute, Case No. 2018-40727

July 17, 2020, 1:30 p.m., Dept. 72 (continued from May 8, 2020)

1. Overview and Procedural Posture.

This is contract/trade secrets case arising from plaintiff's efforts to develop a vaccine to prevent Lassa Fever Virus (LASV). LASV causes an arenavirus which in turn causes hemorrhagic fever disease in humans and "could potentially be used as a bioweapon." Plaintiff alleges defendants agreed to collaborate with plaintiff and that plaintiff would retain all intellectual property and publication rights. Plaintiff alleges that in a 2015 publication called The Journal of Virology, defendants violated plaintiff's rights by misappropriating the trade secrets, and caused plaintiff to lose its competitive research advantage.

The 13 count complaint was filed in August of 2018. Following some discussions among counsel, ROA 9, the FAC (also 13 counts) was filed