Alexion and PDL Reach Settlement on Soliris

Earlier today, PDL BioPharma, Inc. and Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. jointly announced that they have entered into a definitive license agreement.  The two companies were in the midst of a legal dispute regarding patents on Soliris, a treatment for patients with life-threatening paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.  The agreement dismisses the announced claims filed by PDL, as well as the counterclaims filed by Alexion in a U.S. District Court, as stated in a press release on PR Newswire.

Under the agreement, Alexion must pay PDL $25 million for a license to commercialize Soliris.  Alexion must also confirm that PDL’s patents are valid, while agreeing not to sue PDL for other claims, as well as agreeing not to assist other parties that may challenge the validity of patents in the future.  In addition, PDL separately granted Alexion a royalty-bearing license to commercialize additional Alexion humanized antibodies that may be covered by PDL patents in the future.

Soliris is the first product approved for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) in the United States.  Patients with PNH face hemolysis, which causes life-threatening thromboses, recurrent pain, kidney disease, disabling fatigue, impaired quality of life, and pulmonary hypertension.  Soliris is the only treatment that blocks hemolysis before it occurs.