Insider espionage: Allergan wins injunction against Merz

Allergan, the makers of Botox, have announced that they recently won an injunction against Merz Pharmaceuticals and Merz Aesthetics. The injunction prohibits Merz from selling Xeomin, a Botox competitor, in the U.S. for 10 months.
U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford wrote in his decision that Merz misappropriated trade secrets belonging to Allergan.  He wrote, “there is overwhelming circumstantial and direct evidence” that Merz stole the trade secrets and that “Allergan faces a substantial threat of impending injury as a result of this misappropriation.”  Allergan claimed that Merz hired seven former Allergan sales reps in 2010, who provided this insider information.
Since the U.S. Botox / Dysport / Xeomin market is very lucrative for these manufacturers, this represents a big setback for Merz.