UPDATE 1-UK's CAT says Abbott drug case decision due Dec.20
Fri Dec 17, 2004 07:02 AM ET
LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Britain's Cambridge Antibody Technology Group Plc (CAT) said on Friday judgment on its drug royalties dispute with U.S. healthcare group Abbott Laboratories Inc (ABT.N) would be announced on Monday, Dec. 20 at 1030 GMT.
The dispute is over CAT's (CAT.L) share of sales of arthritis drug Humira, which industry analysts tip as a potential $2 billion-a-year blockbuster.
At issue is exactly how much Abbott should pay CAT under a contract covering Humira, which the two firms jointly discovered using technology developed by CAT.
The drug has been a huge success, with sales almost tripling in the third quarter to $227 million, but CAT gets only a fraction of that.
CAT currently receives a gross royalty of 2 percent of sales, according to analyst estimates, but argues it is entitled to 5 percent.
If CAT wins, analysts believe its shares will soar. But defeat would jeopardise its profitability targets and possibly force CAT to seek additional funding.
At 1150 GMT, CAT shares were down 0.9 percent at 625 pence to value the company at 264 million pounds ($514 million).
Since the judge in the case , but only interpret its provisions, his verdict is expected to boil down to a simple win or lose for CAT or Abbott. (Additional reporting by Ben Hirschler)...
I'm not sure that the last comment "is not in a position to rewrite the contract..." is entirely true (cf CAT's lawyers' "Mistake" argument), but on the other hand, I've not had a chance to attend the case, so I could well be wrong... |
