Singapore court freezes worldwide assets in US$830 million Novo Nordisk suit

PHARMA giant Novo Nordisk has been granted an injunction by the Singapore International Commercial Court to freeze the worldwide assets of KBP Biosciences founder Huang Zhenhua to the tune of US$830 million.

The Danish drugmaker was led to believe that KBP had “developed a new and effective drug to treat hypertension and kidney disease”, based on a Feb 14 ruling the court made public this week.  

Novo bought the drug, called ocedurenone, from closely held KBP Biosciences for US$1.3 billion in late 2023. Less than a year later, it halted a clinical trial because the treatment was not working. Novo has since announced an impairment loss of about US$800 million. 

There is a real risk of the assets being put out of reach of Novo’s suit, said Justice Philip Jeyaretnam in his judgement. Transfers of US$339.1 million from KBP to its holding company, as well as US$578.5 million paid out in dividends, show that Huang had the intention to move assets out of Novo’s reach in anticipation of a claim.

“There is no clear commercial rationale for these actions,” said Jeyaretnam.