Amsterdam UMC takes Ronald Plasterk to court for patent fraud
The Amsterdam UMC has sued Ronald Plasterk and the biotech firm CureVac for failing to credit the hospital and its scientist, Jan Koster, in patents around the development of cancer vaccines. The hospital wants credit for its scientist and compensation, a spokesperson confirmed to NOS after reporting by NRC.
According to the hospital, Plasterk wrongly claimed the patents for himself, even though he researched them with the hospital and Koster, among others. This revelation by NRC in March last year cost Plasterk the Prime Minister position.
In 2022, the former PvdA Minister sold his company Frame Therapeutics, including these patents, to the pharmaceutical giant CureVac for 32 million euros. Koster was not involved in the sale and received no proceeds, despite his involvement in the research for the vaccines. The takeover also stopped a clinical trial with new treatments for lung cancer patients - CureVac didn’t want to develop this therapy that could compete with its own vaccines, according to NOS.
In the lawsuit filed by Amsterdam UMC, the hospital says that Plasterk and Curevac acted unlawfully. “The point is that the rights of both Jan Koster and Amsterdam UMC were not respected,” the hospital told NRC. “And that must be rectified. These patent applications largely stem from knowledge financed with public money, so part of the proceeds from them must benefit the public domain.”
The hospital wants to regain rights to the cancer vaccines that Plasterk has claimed the patents to as well as compensation from CureVac and Plasterk himself. The hospital did not mention amounts, but did say there is “a relationship with the sales value of Plasterk’s company Frame Therapeutics to CureVac and the potential value of the patent applications themselves.”
Plasterk denies that he acted unlawfully, telling NOS that he had written permission from the then-chairman of the hospital’s board to claim the patents. “The Amsterdam UMC suddenly changed its mind last spring (during the Cabinet formation) and apparently finds it necessary to submit the case to court. This is primarily a case between Amsterdam UMC and CureVac, which has been the owner for two years. I will, of course, make my contribution to the procedure,” Plasterk told the broadcaster in a written response.
