The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Avara Pharma Services Limited against a €1,193,634 judgment obtained by IDA Ireland over research and development grant funding originally provided to a pharmaceutical manufacturer.
The dispute arose from a 2012 agreement under which Shannon Development agreed to provide up to €1,206,548 to UCB Manufacturing Ireland Limited for research and development. UCB’s Belgian parent, UCB SA, guaranteed repayment obligations arising under the grant agreement.
When UCB’s pharmaceutical manufacturing business was acquired in 2016, a February 2017 novation agreement transferred the grant agreement to Avara Shannon Pharmaceutical Services Limited. Avara Pharma Services agreed to assume UCB SA’s obligations under the guarantee.
Avara Shannon was ordered to be wound up in July 2019. IDA Ireland, which had inherited Shannon Development’s rights, subsequently revoked the grant funding. The liquidator advised that no dividend would be available to IDA, which then pursued Avara Pharma Services under the guarantee.
The High Court granted IDA summary judgment for €1,193,634 in October 2024. On appeal, Avara argued principally that the novation agreement had not been properly executed and that IDA had not provided adequate admissible evidence to establish the debt.
Mr Justice Brian Binchy, with Ms Justice Whelan and Ms Justice Pilkington agreeing, rejected those arguments. The court found that the novation agreement was supported by consideration and had been signed on Avara’s behalf by two authorised officers. It noted that Avara had itself obtained IDA’s agreement to dispense with an independent legal opinion concerning execution and had supplied a certificate confirming that the agreement was duly executed and authorised.
The court also rejected Avara’s hearsay objection to evidence from an IDA senior accountant. The claim depended on business records showing the grant payments and contractual documents whose substance was not genuinely disputed.
The appeal was dismissed in full. The court provisionally proposed that Avara pay IDA’s appeal costs, subject to any alternative submissions within two weeks.