WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) - Repligen Corp. said Tuesday that Bristol-Myers Squibb
Co. agreed to pay $5 million plus royalties to settle a patent infringement
lawsuit for a rheumatoid arthritis treatment.
Repligen's suit, filed in Texas in January 2006, accused Bristol-Myers of
infringement based on the sale of its Orencia rheumatoid arthritis treatment.
Bristol-Myers, which confirmed the settlement, also agreed to pay royalties
on the U.S. net sales of Orencia for any clinical indication at a rate of 1.8
percent for the first $500 million of annual sales, 2 percent for the next $500
million of annual sales and 4 percent of U.S. annual sales in excess of $1
billion for each year from Jan. 1, 2008, until Dec. 31, 2013.
Analysts have estimated Orencia sales could eventually reach $1 billion per
year.
The settlement also gives Bristol-Myers an exclusive worldwide license of
certain patent rights of Repligen and the University of Michigan.
"Based on analysts' estimates of U.S. sales of Orencia, we expect total cash
receipts from our Protein A business, Orencia royalties, research and
development and other income of greater than $30 million for fiscal year 2009,
beginning April 1, 2008," Walter C. Herlihy, Repligen's chief executive, said in
a statement.
Rheumatoid arthritis affects more than 2 million people in the United
States.
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