Hough Pharma family at war over Covid millions, rapid antigen tests, Gold Coast

A young druggist embroiled in a legal battle with his father over their $108 million Covid test empire was sentenced to prison for a string of drug offenses before the family business hit the jackpot.

Jackson Hough, 31, is accused of cutting his father, Gregory Hough, from Hough Pharma Pty Ltd when sales of rapid antigen tests during the Delta wave boomed in 2021.

Mr. Hough senior, 58, lived in Sydney before moving to Queensland in the late 1990s but owns and operates the company’s US branch, Hough Pharma LLC, from his home in Houston, Texas.

The company was founded in Australia in September 2020 – about a year before RATs became common – with Jackson, a former electrician with no healthcare experience, taking on the role of sole shareholder.

Hough Pharma then entered into international supply agreements to import RATs from China, which were approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for distribution in Australia in August 2021.

The explosion in sales caused the fallout over ownership.

The case was adjudicated in the Brisbane Supreme Court on September 8 and will be heard for four days from October 18.

However, Daily Mail Australia can reveal that Jackson had a checkered history with the law before landing a RAT empire.

His charges, all of which were heard in Southport Magistrates Court, date back to 2014 when he pleaded guilty at age 23 to drug possession, driving without a license and having a knife in a public place.

He was sentenced to 120 hours of community service, banned for a month, and fined $700.

Three years later, in 2017, Jackson appeared in court again — charged with five counts of drug possession, unlawful possession of a semi-automatic rifle, two center firearms, a shotgun, and an air rifle.

He was sentenced to six to nine months in prison per offense, but was released on parole.

In August 2019, he pleaded guilty to five more drug charges, mishandling of needles and syringes, and possession of kitchen utensils or pipes.

He was sentenced to nine months behind bars for each offense, but was again released on parole.

In September of the following year, just over a year after his last court appearance, Jackson was at the helm of Australia’s Hough Pharma.

A year later, his father sued him for winning.

The multinational legal battle is being fought in two lawsuits running side by side – one in the Brisbane Supreme Court and the other in Texas.

In an affidavit filed with the Brisbane Supreme Court in May this year, Gregory Hough said says he had a verbal agreement with his son to give the US company 75 percent of its Australian business.

Mr Hough claimed that he spoke to his son on the phone before September 24, 2021 and agreed that he would mentor Jackson and eventually give him ownership of the company when he retired.

In the meantime, Jackson would receive $1 for each two-pack of RATs sold by the company in Australia, $1.50 for each five-pack, and $12.50 for each 25-pack.

In addition, Mr. Hough alleges that he offered Jackson a 25 percent stake and asked to send the remaining 75 percent of the shares to his US company.

However, Mr Hough claims his son sent the shares to one of his own companies instead – and his father said it was a ‘solution’ to get Australian funding and would be reversed.

When Jackson told his father what had happened, Mr Hough said ‘You can’t do that’ – to which his son reportedly told him not to worry and said he would send them back on Monday.

In a text message sent to Hough’s distribution manager, Jesper Skade, on December 9 last year, Jackson said, “Don’t worry, I’m not ruling out you and Dad. That would go against everything I stand for and believe.

“I couldn’t live with myself.”

In Jackson’s version of events, according to documents submitted to court on April 6 this year, the couple spoke on the phone in September 2021 – but he claims the conversation went a little differently.

He says Mr Hough threatened to cut his RAT supply unless he got 75 percent of the company.

He claims that Mr Hough said, “If you don’t transfer 75 percent of the shares in Hough Pharma to… [Hough] Distribution, I will stop supplying RATs to Hough Pharma and your business will be over.”

“Will you be the son who did this to his father?” Mr Hough is said to have asked his son.

Mr Hough claims that he laid the groundwork and that Jackson would not have been able to sell RATs in Australia without the US company, and if he had not convinced the TGA to allow the company to sell Down Under .

But the former electrician says his father is trying to take credit for his work.

Jackson told the court he could have gotten the TGA’s approval without his father’s company.

According to court documents, Jackson says the Australian affiliate had “humble beginnings” and paid the $10,000 fee for TGA approval.

Jackson initially ordered RATs from China, through his father’s company, until their relationship broke down last year and he approached Biohit Healthcare for an immediate delivery.

Court documents also say he accused his father of lying to the Chinese supplier, leading Biohit to “possibly” backtrack on the supply agreement.

Jackson also alleged that the US arm of Hough Pharma caused a $25 million drop in Australian sales by blocking tests from China for two weeks in December.

According to court documents, he emailed his father in December last year, telling him to “f**k up.”

“All these childish acts to gain control are bullshit.”

Brisbane court says Mr Hough fears his son could try to sell Hough Pharma without paying him a share.

The expat also fears he could be stripped of control of the company for the lifetime of the market — that is, until people stop buying RATs.

Mr Hough claims he never intended for his son to become sole owner of the Australian company, but Jackson says it was agreed that he would run the company in Queensland and that his father would handle the US side of things. .

Court documents say Mr Hough is concerned about the way his son is running Hough Pharma, as the company was fined $106,560 by the TGA in June.

A 75 percent stake in Hough Pharma has been frozen by a judge until the Brisbane case is concluded.

Daily Mail Australia contacted Gregory Hough and Jackson Hough for comment.