(CNN) The University of Missouri-Kansas City has filed a lawsuit against a former professor, alleging that he stole and sold his graduate student's research for $1.5 million.

The suit, filed this week, says Ashim Mitra swiped a "groundbreaking" drug formulation from the student and stands to gain as much as $10 million more in royalties.

Mitra, who has resigned from the university, denied the allegations to CNN.

Also named in the lawsuit are Mitra's wife, who worked in her husband's lab, and two pharmaceutical companies that used the invention.

The university alleges Mitra worked in secret with the companies to develop the patent, which outlines an innovative way of delivering drugs to the eye using nanotechnology

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