SINGAPORE, Feb 21 — Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk has secured a court order to freeze the worldwide assets of Singapore-based KBP Biosciences and its founder Huang Zhenhua, amid a legal battle over an experimental hypertension drug.
The Singapore International Commercial Court granted the order on February 14, following Novo Nordisk’s claim that it was misled about the drug’s effectiveness, according to a report in The Straits Times yesterday.
The ruling was made public on February 18.
Novo Nordisk, best known for its blockbuster obesity drug Wegovy, is seeking up to US$830 million (RM3.7 billion) in damages and has also initiated legal proceedings against KBP Biosciences in New York, according to the Singapore court.
The Danish drugmaker acquired the medicine, ocedurenone, from KBP Biosciences in late 2023 in a deal worth up to US$1.3 billion.
Less than a year later, it halted clinical trials after finding the treatment ineffective, leading to an impairment loss of about US$800 million.
The court ruling stated that KBP Biosciences and Huang had “developed a new and effective drug to treat hypertension and kidney disease” but “failed to disclose material information,” including interim analyses of clinical trial results.
The judge said Huang “arguably knew and participated in these misrepresentations” and that KBP Biosciences “knowingly failed to disclose material information,” including analyses showing ocedurenone’s “inefficacy.”
Founded in 2011, KBP Biosciences is headquartered in Singapore with offices in China and the US.
Huang, who hails from Shandong, owns 40 per cent of the company, according to media reports.
He and his wife, Cai Jun, who became Singapore citizens, purchased a bungalow on Jalan Tupai near Orchard Road for S$32.5 million, The Business Times reported in June 2024.
Huang was previously an executive director and shareholder of Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group, which was delisted from the Singapore Exchange in 2009 following a S$458 million takeover offer.
