BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

InterMune, Shionogi pulmonary news

July 16, 2012 7:00 AM UTC

Shionogi filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California alleging that InterMune breached an amended 2004 deal regarding idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) drug Esbriet pirfenidone. Shionogi alleges that InterMune failed to pay royalties to Shionogi on sales of Esbriet in the EU as required under the deal. According to court documents, the companies entered into the deal to exchange clinical data for the product. Shionogi said that a 2010 amendment to the deal stipulated that either party would have to exercise an exclusive option to acquire a royalty-bearing license to use the other party's data in a pivotal data submission. Shionogi alleges that InterMune included data from Shionogi's clinical trials in the MAA submission for pirfenidone in the EU and therefore InterMune is obligated to pay royalties. Shionogi demanded a jury trial and is seeking monetary damages for the unpaid royalties, which the company estimates exceed $75,000. ...