NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia said today that Decode Genetics' lawsuit against it and four officials is “without merit.”
The hospital also said it “defends physicians to protect advanced research in childhood diseases.”
“It would be a blow to the enormous promise of [the hospital's] research if a for-profit company is permitted to interfere with the potential advancement of healthcare for children,” CHOP President and CEO Steven Altschuler said in a statement.
In its lawsuit, Decode accuses the hospital and certain CHOP staffers who were formerly employed by Decode of sharing company trade secrets and intellectual property. One of the defendants is Hakon Hakonarson, director of the hospital’s Center for Applied Genomics.
The children’s hospital launched the business unit in June to identify genes responsible for common childhood diseases, such as asthma, obesity, and diabetes.