Novartis settles patent dispute

FREMONT, Calif. — SangStat, The Transplant Company, announced that it has signed a global settlement agreement with Novartis AG and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. with respect to the patent infringement lawsuits filed against SangStat in the US and UK regarding SangCya(R) Oral Solution, USP (MODIFIED), as well as the counterclaim SangStat filed against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. in the US.

As part of the settlement, SangStat has acknowledged that the Novartis patents are valid, but SangStat continues to believe that SangCya does not infringe these patents. In addition, the parties have entered into a global license agreement. All other terms of the settlement will remain confidential.

"The terms of the settlement will have no material financial impact on the company in the foreseeable future and will allow us to save the legal fees associated with these suits," said Jean-Jacques Bienaime, President & CEO of SangStat. "We can now focus our energies and resources on the future."

"We are very pleased to put this litigation behind us," added Philippe Pouletty, MD and Chairman of SangStat.

SangStat recently announced that it had withdrawn SangCya oral solution, its liquid cyclosporine product from the US market. SangCya's US revenues account for less than 4 percent of total year to date revenues for the company, with modest growth expectations prior to withdrawal.

SangStat, The Transplant Company, is a global bio-pharmaceutical company applying a disease management approach to improving the outcome of organ, bone marrow, and stem cell transplantation. Since 1988, SangStat has built a family of products and services to address the pre-transplant, acute care and chronic phases of transplant in the worldwide market. SangStat's The Transplant Pharmacy, is a dedicated mail order pharmacy that provides direct drug distribution and patient-focused management services. TransplantRx.com was introduced in 1999 as an on-line component and one-stop-shop providing e-commerce, content, and community for transplant recipients and providers

Source: SangStat