Dana-Farber’s 4-year legal battle shines a light on the origins of PD-1 research — forcing a reckoning on who pioneered the landmark cancer breakthrough
Every blockbuster drug has roots extending back years, often decades, into labs around the world. And on rare occasions scientists’ success with mice inspires a replay of events in a courtroom drama that can change the acknowledged authorship of the work, and who gets to share in the spoils of their explorations.
Dana-Farber just proved that again late last week, as chief US district judge Patti Saris ruled in its favor after a 4-year legal battle, concluding that two noted scientists — the institute’s Gordon Freeman and Clive Wood, formerly with Wyeth and the Genetics Institute and now head of discovery at Boehringer Ingelheim — played key roles in pioneering what’s become a multibillion-dollar immuno-oncology business.
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