Novartis contends Roche 'unjustly enriched' itself with $210 million in fees -lawsuit
Reuters
Published Jun 29, 2021 09:57AM ET
Updated Jun 29, 2021 11:20AM ET
By John Miller
ZURICH (Reuters) - Novartis AG wants Roche Holding AG (OTC:RHHVF) to return $210 million after accusing its Swiss rival of inappropriately pocketing fees from a 16-year-old patent licensing agreement, according to a lawsuit in U.S. District Court.
The dispute, launched by Novartis in a California state court but recently shifted to a federal court, stems from a 2005 deal requiring U.S.-based Chiron Corp to make payments to Roche's U.S. Genentech unit for use of its intellectual property.
In 2006, Novartis bought Chiron, a maker of biological drugs and vaccines, and continued making the payments to Roche as it developed products like inflammation drug Ilaris, with revenue of roughly $900 million annually, and psoriasis drug Cosentyx, Novartis's current top seller at around $4 billion annually.
"Novartis subsequently discovered that it mistakenly overpaid," Novartis lawyers wrote in a heavily redacted complaint published last Thursday in the U.S. District Court in California.
"Genentech was aware or should have been aware that Novartis had overpaid ... to Genentech throughout the term of the Agreement," Novartis lawyers wrote. "By mistake, Novartis overpaid ... to Genentech on its drug products, Ilaris and Cosentyx, to which Genentech was not entitled."
Roche has long owned lucrative patents needed by other companies to make biological drugs like monoclonal antibodies, including the so-called "Cabilly patents" that reaped billions of dollars in royalties over the years for the Swiss company before finally expiring https://reut.rs/3h23gtj three years ago.
Roche on Tuesday said it has a policy of not commenting on pending litigation.
Since it discovered what it alleges is an overpayment, Novartis said it has been trying to get Roche to return the money, to no avail.
"Genentech has been unjustly enriched at Novartis’s expense," Novartis lawyers wrote.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.