BOSTON—The company that agreed to market the world's first genetically engineered pseudorabies livestock vaccine has charged the vaccine's developer with "fraudulent misrepresentation" of the vaccine's safety and efficacy.

According to a claim filed November 13 in U.S. District Court in Houston, TechAmerica Group Inc. would not have entered into its agreement with Novagene Ltd. "had it known the truth with regard to such statements, representations and omissions" in the data presented on the product by Novagene in 1984.

TechAmerica's claims are a response to a suit brought against it October 31 by the Houston-based Novagene. Novagene has sued TechAmerica for breach of contract, claiming that the Elwood, Kan., company failed to advertise and market the product, even though the pseudorabies vaccine had been licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and made available for sale.

TechAmerica alleges that three key safety issues were initially misrepresented by Novagene: the vaccine's,...

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