The University of Western Australia has amended its legal claim against former staff member Dr Bruce Gray and the company he founded, Sirtex Medical Ltd, over ownership of various intellectual property.
The university has previously claimed that it, and not Dr Gray, owns the cancer treatment technology currently being commercialised by Sirtex.
At stake are shares in Sirtex worth about $40 million, a controlling position in the company worth $100 million.
UWA has amended its claim to include a related patented technology currently used by Sirtex.
The university’s legal claim has triggered an acrimonious boardroom brawl at Sirtex, with the Sydney-based company launching a cross-claim against Dr Gray.
He has subsequently stepped down as chairman but has sought to oust the remaining non-executive directors.
In September, Dr Gray announced he would seek to oust the new chairman, Richard Hill, and independent director Grant Boyce, from the Sirtex board.
However, he withdrew the resolution for the removal of Mr Hill ahead of the Sirtex meeting on October 24. Mr Boyce, who runs Nedlands accounting firm Montrose Partners, retained his directorship after a vote.
Sirtex last week provided further details of UWA’s claim, and stated that UWA was not seeking to put the company into receivership “as asserted by Dr Gray at the annual general meeting”.
It also said UWA “asserts that it has reached a settlement agreement” with the Cancer Research Institute, an entity associated with Dr Gray which has a substantial shareholding in Sirtex.
“The status and enforceability of the alleged settlement agreement is in dispute,” Sirtex said.
Dr Gray, who has a 31 per cent shareholding, has also foreshadowed a cross-claim against Freehills, which he asserts had a conflict of interest.
Freehills was the long-standing legal adviser to Sirtex and acted for both the company and Dr Gray in the early stages of the UWA claim – due to be heard in the Federal Court in Perth next year – but now acts for neither.
Dr Gray has engaged Lavan Legal’s Martin Bennett, while Sirtex has engaged Phillips Fox.
UWA has engaged Jackson McDonald to pursue its claim, while the Cancer Research Institute is represented by Tottle Partners.
The origins of the dispute go back to Dr Gray’s term as professor of surgery at UWA during the 1990s.
