Country for PR: United Kingdom
Contributor: PR Newswire Europe
Monday, September 09 2019 - 17:00
AsiaNet
SpePharm AG Wins Case Against Eisai Inc. in United States District Court for District of Delaware
AMSTERDAM, Sept. 9, 2019 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --

SpePharm AG, a subsidiary of Norgine B.V., announced that the United States 
District Court for the District of Delaware ruled on 4th September 2019 in 
favour of SpePharm in its proceeding against Eisai Inc., upholding SpePharm's 
licensed rights for SALAGEN(R) (pilocarpine hydrochloride) through April 2026. 
Judge Richard Andrews upheld SpePharm's position, finding that SpePharm 
properly exercised its option to extend its license agreement in 49 countries.
 
Eisai Inc. purported to give notice of its intent to terminate SpePharm AG's 
exclusive licensed rights for SALAGEN, a drug used to treat dry mouth caused by 
radiation therapy for head and neck cancer and to treat dry mouth and dry eyes 
in individuals with Sjögren's syndrome, and had entered into an agreement to 
sell global rights to SALAGEN to Advanz Pharma Corp. The Court's decision 
confirms that SpePharm retains its rights in 49 countries in Europe and the 
Commonwealth of Independent States through April 2026.

Speaking on behalf of SpePharm, Peter Stein (CEO of Norgine) said, "We are 
gratified that the Court speedily agreed with SpePharm's position and upheld 
SpePharm's rights to continue commercialising SALAGEN for the benefit of 
patients. We are disappointed that we had to resort to legal action against 
Eisai, however, SpePharm will vigorously defend its rights through all 
appropriate means."

www.norgine.com   
Follow us @norgine

Notes to editors:

About SpePharm

SpePharm AG is an independent unit within the Norgine group of companies and is 
based in Werftestrasse in Lucerne.

Norgine is a leading European specialist pharmaceutical company that has been 
bringing transformative medicines to patients for over a century. Across the 
globe in 2018, Norgine is proud to have helped 23 million patients and 
generated €395 million in net product sales to reinvest in medicines for the 
future, a growth of 15% over 2017. 

We understand the complexities of the European healthcare systems and have a 
direct presence in 14 European countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand. 
We also have a strong global network of partnerships in non-Norgine markets. 

We are a flexible and fully integrated pharmaceutical business, with 
manufacturing (Hengoed, Wales and Dreux, France), third party supply networks 
and significant product development capabilities, in addition to our sales and 
marketing infrastructure. This enables us to acquire, develop and commercialise 
specialist and innovative products that make a real difference to the lives of 
patients around the world.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/597589/Norgine_Logo.jpg 

Source: Norgine B.V.