US court sides with Irish pharmaceutical company

A court in the US has found trade secrets were stolen from Norbrook Laboratories, a Northern Ireland pharmaceutical group, by a US competitor.

Norbrook Laboratories, owned by former senator Dr Edward Haughey, has welcomed the decision.

GC Hanford Manufacturing, a veterinary penicillin company based in Syracuse, New York, has been restrained from using Norbrook's manufacturing process to produce an injectable penicillin.

The ruling follows allegations by Norbrook that Dr Philip Quinn, who helped develop the exclusive process at Norbrook, then acted as a consultant to Hanford, developing a similar process, disregarding a confidentiality agreement.

The court decision is preliminary and Norbrook has said it will continue to prosecute the US action vigorously