Biohaven Ltd. and Yale University announced today that a federal jury in the District of Delaware has found Avilar Therapeutics and RA Capital Management liable in a trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract lawsuit.

The jury determined that Avilar and RA Capital willfully and maliciously misappropriated Yale’s trade secrets related to the "MODA" targeted protein degradation platform. Additionally, the jury found that RA Capital independently breached its confidentiality agreement with Yale, signed in 2019.

The jury awarded total damages of $4 million. Of this amount, $2 million was awarded to Yale as compensation for RA Capital’s breach of contract, and the remaining $2 million was awarded for trade secret misappropriation, to be split equally between Yale and Biohaven Ltd.

Biohaven’s Chief Executive Officer stated that the verdict confirms RA Capital and Avilar improperly used confidential information to advance a competing business, and the jury recognized the malicious nature of their actions.

Yale’s Vice President for Communications added that the university’s partnerships with industry are built on trust, integrity, and respect for legal obligations.

The case stems from a technology platform developed by a Yale professor in 2018, designed to bind and clear disease-causing extracellular proteins. RA Capital signed a confidentiality agreement with Yale in April 2019 to evaluate a potential collaboration. However, after months of negotiations broke down in August of that year, Biohaven Ltd. and Yale alleged that RA Capital used the obtained confidential information to help establish Avilar later that year and develop a competitive drug program, instead of pursuing a partnership with Yale.

After Biohaven Ltd. licensed the technology platform from Yale in January 2021, both parties filed a formal lawsuit in March 2023. The trial began on July 20, 2026, and the jury reached its verdict on July 24.