Actelion to appeal final jury verdict in Asahi Kasei litigation in US Court

Switzerland-based Actelion (SIX: ATLN) today commented on the verdict issued with regard to Japan’s Asahi Kasei Pharma Corp versus Actelion et al (case number CIV 478533, Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Mateo) (the matter) in which the jury last week awarded Asahi up to $547 million in compensatory damages.

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. 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 may stay product is Tracleer (bosentan) for the treatment of PAH which, in the first quarter of this brought in sales of 450.1 million Swiss francs ($518.2 million), the bulk of the firm’s total revenues of 528.2 million for that period.