Primate study triggers lawsuit

A six-month dispute between a biotech company and a university primate facility it contracted for a study on spinal cord injury has prompted a linkurl:lawsuit.;http://www.the-scientist.com/supplementary/pdf/invivo_lawsuit.pdf Cambridge-based biotech linkurl:InVivo Therapeutics;http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.invivotherapeutics.com%2F&ei=1LSzSteKNY3ilAeOzuiWDw&usg=AFQjCNFGw1gG962AueRkorRoe0x_HXlcEg&sig2=b97_y1ZQCw72CDkF37NfJw filed suit against linkurl:Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU);http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ohsu.edu%2F&ei=5bSzSuXyLs_K8QbN8N2TDw&usg=AFQjCNGQnUUywSJlAOWsDyBwKxPVfMQJOA&sig2=cF8N-tprND_LlERq4r4Wsw with the US District Courts in Boston earlier this month (Sept. 1), claiming the school's primate center improperly cared for monkeys during the study, resulting in the death of four animals and a premature end to the research.

Image: Wikimedia commons, Papa November

"We were surprised by the lawsuit," OHSU spokesperson Jim Newman told The Scientist. "We disagree with the claims that were made by InVivo and we plan to vigorously defend ourselves." In January of this year, InVivo contracted OHSU's Oregon National Primate Center to host their research, which involved severing the spinal cords of rhesus monkeys to test the company's polymer device, designed to aid the recovery of lower...