Cadus Announces Court of Appeals Decision in Cadus's Favor Invalidating SIBIA Patent
NEW YORK, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Cadus Pharmaceutical Corporation (OTC bulletin Board: KDUS - news) today announced that the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in favor of Cadus and overturned the 1998 judgment entered by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in the patent infringement suit filed by SIBIA Neurosciences, Inc. (``SIBIA'') (which was acquired by Merck & Co. in 1999). The Court of Appeals ruled that the claims of SIBIA's U.S. Patent No. 5,401,629 asserted against Cadus were invalid, and that the District Court erred in denying Cadus' motion for judgment as a matter of law on the issue of invalidity.
SIBIA filed suit against Cadus in 1996 and claimed that Cadus infringed the '629 patent, which covers the use of cells, engineered to express any type of cell surface receptor and a reporter gene, used to report results in the screening of compounds against target assays. After trial, in December 1998, the jury issued a verdict in favor of SIBIA and awarded SIBIA $18.0 million in damages. Cadus appealed the jury verdict to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which heard oral argument in the case in March 2000. In order to stay execution pending appeal of the $18.0 million judgment obtained by SIBIA, in March 1999, Cadus deposited $18.5 million in escrow to secure payment of the judgment in the event Cadus were to lose the appeal.
``This decision by the Court of Appeals, reversing the erroneous jury verdict, is a welcome vindication. Cadus always believed the jury was wrong, and is glad that justice has now prevailed,'' said Russell Glass, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cadus.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are set forth in the company's prospectus dated July 17, 1996 or detailed from time to time in filings that the company makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These include risks and uncertainties relating to the company's ongoing litigation with SIBIA, including uncertainties regarding the final outcome of the litigation and the re-examination of SIBIA's patent at issue in the litigation, risks and uncertainties relating to the company's ability to realize value from its assets, technological uncertainties regarding the company's technology, rapid technological change, an intensely competitive market, intellectual property rights and general economic conditions.
SOURCE: Cadus Pharmaceutical Corporation |
