Item 1. Legal Proceedings
Item 1. Legal Proceedings
From time to time, we may be party to lawsuits in the ordinary course of business. Except as described below, we are not presently a party to any legal proceedings, the outcome of which, if determined adversely to us, would individually or in the aggregate be reasonably expected to have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results or financial condition.
In December 2022, we filed suit against Ascletis Bioscience Co., Ltd., Gannex Pharma Co., Ltd., Ascletis Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., Ascletis Pharma Inc., and Jinzi Jason Wu, or the Ascletis Defendants, in the Southern District of California, San Diego division, alleging, among other things: (1) violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act; (2) violation of the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act; (3) breach of contract; (4) breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; and (5) tortious interference with contract. In a related action, we also filed suit against the same Ascletis Defendants in the International Trade Commission, or the ITC, for unlawful and unfair methods of competition. These legal proceedings arise at least in part from the misappropriation of our trade secrets.
On October 3, 2024, the ITC’s Chief Administrative Law Judge issued a Notice of his determination in favor of Viking. The ruling states that Ascletis Defendants misappropriated our trade secrets while under a Confidential Disclosure Agreement and engaged in discovery misconduct, warranting monetary and non-monetary sanctions. On May 29, 2025, the full ITC affirmed the substantial majority of the ITC Chief Administrative Law Judge’s determinations in favor of Viking, including monetary and non-monetary sanctions. On September 26, 2025, the Ascletis Defendants filed a notice of appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, challenging the ITC’s affirmance. That same day, we also filed a notice of appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, challenging a narrow portion of the ITC’s decision disagreeing with the determination of the ITC Chief Administrative Law Judge. The appeal of the ITC’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is continuing to move forward. On June 15, 2026, the Ascletis Defendants filed their opening brief in their appeal challenging the ITC’s adverse determinations against the Ascletis Defendants. The district court action in the Southern District of California remains stayed pending a final non-appealable ITC determination. We continue to vigorously pursue all legal remedies in the ITC appeal and district court case, but there is no guarantee that we will be successful in these efforts.
On April 24, 2026, Ligand notified us that Ligand is purporting to terminate Ligand’s license of the TR-Beta Program to us under the Master License Agreement. The TR-Beta Program includes our VK2809 and VK0214 product candidates. On May 19, 2026, Ligand filed a complaint against us in the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, asserting claims for breach of contract and declaratory relief and seeking, among other things, damages and a decree of specific performance compelling us to perform certain post-termination obligations with respect to the TR-Beta Program, including the return of certain intellectual property. On July 2, 2026, we filed a cross-complaint against Ligand and its affiliate, Metabasis Therapeutics, Inc., or Metabasis, in the same action, seeking a declaration that we did not breach the Master License Agreement, that Ligand’s purported termination of our license to the TR-Beta Program was invalid, and that we retain our exclusive rights to develop and commercialize products under the TR-Beta Program. In our cross-complaint, we also asserted claims against Ligand and Metabasis for breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing for improperly purporting to terminate our license to the TR-Beta Compounds in violation of the Master License Agreement. We will continue to vigorously defend and enforce our rights under the Master License Agreement against any attempt to violate, misappropriate or infringe those rights with respect to any of our licensed programs. However, if we are unable to resolve the dispute and Ligand ultimately has the right to terminate the Master License Agreement with respect to the TR-Beta Program, we will lose certain intellectual property rights, including the right to develop or commercialize VK2809 and VK0214. We believe we have good and substantial defenses to the claims asserted by Ligand, but there is no guarantee that we will be successful in these efforts.
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.