The University of Missouri has reached a settlement with a former pharmacy professor who was accused of stealing and selling student research, ABC News reported.
The university sued Ashim Mitra in 2019, alleging he received $1.5 million and the potential to make millions more in royalties after selling a student's research without permission.
The research was done by Kishore Cholkar, a student who developed a more effective way to deliver drugs to the eye, ABC News reported. The university claims the money belongs to it because the research was completed while the student was working as a graduate research assistant at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Mr. Mitra allegedly sold the student's research to a pharmaceutical company in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which then resold it to Sun Pharmaceutical, an Indian drugmaker, for $40 million plus royalties.
The university said Dec. 28 that it resolved all claims against Mr. Mitra, ABC News reported. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, and a university spokesperson wouldn't tell ABC News if money was part of the deal.
Mr. Mitra had denied all the allegations, and his lawyer told the publication they're "pleased with the settlement."
Mr. Mitra had resigned from the UMKC School of Pharmacy in 2019 after being accused of forcing foreign graduate students to serve guests at social gatherings at his home and do other household tasks for him under threat of losing their visas. Mr. Mitra didn't acknowledge any wrongdoing when he resigned, according to ABC News.
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