Affymax and Janssen Biotech enter $13 million peginesatide patent settlement

US biotech firm Affymax (Nasdaq: AFFY) says it has reached a global settlement agreement with Janssen Biotech, a subsidiary of health care major Johnson & Johnson NYSE: JNJ) and certain of its affiliated companies to end the arbitration and litigation related to certain intellectual property emerging from a 1992-1995 research collaboration.

Under the accord, Affymax obtains a release of claims, a covenant not to sue and license to the intellectual property in dispute, thereby eliminating potential claims by Janssen regarding the use, manufacture, import, sale and licensing of anemia drug candidate peginesatide worldwide.

“While we continue to believe in the strength of our position in this intellectual property dispute, we felt it served the best interests of our stockholders to proactively settle the matter to eliminate ongoing legal costs resulting from the litigation and remove any potential hurdles to commercialization of peginesatide for us and our partner Takeda,” said John Orwin, chief executive of Affymax, adding: “This settlement will allow us to more fully focus our time and resources on the regulatory review process and launch preparations for peginesatide.”