A Los Angeles Superior Court judge rejected Patrick Soon-Shiong’s attempt to allow him and his company, NantPharma, to avoid the billion-dollar fraud and breach of contract claims that Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (Sorrento) filed against them earlier this year.
Sorrento’s claims relate the “catch and kill” scheme that Soon-Shiong allegedly orchestrated to keep Sorrento’s promising cancer drug Cynviloq off the market in order to preserve Soon-Shiong’s personal financial interest in another competing drug.
In his ruling, Judge Terry Green denied Soon-Shiong’s and NantPharma’s motion to stay or dismiss Sorrento’s arbitration against them, allowing that case to proceed in full. Judge Green also granted Sorrento’s motions to compel Soon-Shiong entity NantCell’s counterclaims to arbitration, rejecting NantCell’s attempts to avoid the arbitration agreement it had previously entered into with Sorrento.
The Hueston Hennigan team includes John Hueston, Padraic Foran, Karen Younkins, Annie Banks, Dan Sheehan, Marjorie Menza and Selena Galaviz.
The story was covered in the Daily Journal.