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Genmab in royalty fight with Jannsen
GEN.CO
The Danish biotech group Genmab has smoked in the butt of its very important American partner Janssen regarding royalty payments associated with the blockbuster cancer drug Daratumumab, also known as Darzalex.
It appears from a stock exchange announcement on Tuesday night.
The two companies have therefore initiated a binding arbitration case in New York at the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution for Non-Administered Arbitration. Here, the arbitral tribunal must rule on two issues relating to royalties associated with Janssen's sale of Darzalex.
- While Genmab intends to vigorously defend its rights under the agreement, the outcome of any arbitration, as well as its duration, is inherently uncertain, states Genmab, which does not expect the case to have any substantial effect. on the expectations for 2020.
The first question is whether Genmab should lift part of the royalties that Janssen pays to Halozyme Therapeutics for the use of that company's technology for the development of the subcutaneous version of Darzalex.
Janssen, owned by Johnson & Johnson, pays a royalty to Halozyme equivalent to about a mid-digit percentage of sales of the subcutaneous version of Darzalex, and Janssen has already withheld the amount in its settlement to Genmab that the group deemed appropriate in other quarter of 2020.
The second point of contention to be settled is whether Janssen is obliged to pay royalties to Genmab until Genmab's patents on Daratumumab expire or until Janssen's patents on Daratumumab no longer provide protection.
The relevant patents owned by Genmab are expected to expire in the late 2020s and early 2030s, while the relevant patents under Janssen's ownership will stop providing protection in the mid-2030s, it is stated. Janssen is responsible for the sale of Darzalex for the treatment of bone marrow cancer, and Genmab most recently waited in connection with the accounts for the second quarter with the total sales to end in the range of DKK 3.9 to 4.2 billion. Top manager Jan van de Winkel predicted to Ritzau Finans at the time that the top sales of the drug in 2030 would exceed 10 billion. dollars. Genmab also says that the group's collaboration with Janssen on Hexabody-CD38 continues. / ritzau / FINANCE