Actelion makes $577 million provision regarding Asahi litigation

Europe’s largest biotech firm Actelion (SIX: ATLN) revealed yesterday that it may report an operating loss, because, in the absence of a judgment in regard to the law suit with Japanese drugmaker Asahi Kasei Pharma (case number CIV 478533, Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Mateo, USA), the company will make a provision for the full award of damages announced last month.

The action arises from a dispute involving the license and development agreement between Asahi and CoTherix for the drug compound fasudil that was terminated upon the Swiss firm’s acquisition of CoTherix in 2007 (The Pharma Letter May 4). CoTherix and Asahi Kasei entered into a license agreement relating to the Japanese group’s rho kinase inhibitor to fasudil in June 2006.

At the beginning of 2007, CoTherix said it would no longer continue to develop fasudil and returned it to the Japanese group. Fasudil was being developed as a drug for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), as well as chest pains that often precede heart attacks. Actelion’s main stay product is Tracleer (bosentan) for the treatment of PAH which, in the first quarter of this year brought in sales of 450.1 million Swiss francs ($518.2 million), the bulk of the firm’s total revenues of 528.2 million francs for that period.