Where Are Those Royalties? NYU Claims Pfizer Is A Deadbeat

In a bid to retrieve tens of millions of dollars over the next several years, New York University has filed a lawsuit against Pfizer, claiming the drugmaker failed to pay royalties on its Xalkori medication, which was approved two years ago by the FDA to treat non-small cell lung cancer along with a diagnostic kit. The dispute is the latest example of a spat over the proceeds from research that is generated by academia but is commercialized by a drugmaker under a development deal. In this instance, NYU claims that Pfizer did not honor an agreement that was inherited as part of its 2003 acquisition of Pharmacia. The agreement dates back to 1991 between the university and a company called Sugen, which was co-founded by an NYU professor and acquired eight years later by Pharmacia. The original agreement, which was later amended and updated, called for NYU to be paid certain product royalties. Pfizer, in fact, has paid NYU royalties on Sutent. Like Xalkori, the drug is a receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, but was approved to treat renal cell carcinoma and gastroinsestinal stromal tumors. The lawsuit charges Pfizer altered its development strategy for Xalkori six years ago after learning from a published paper that it may be able to treat NCSLC. But since 2011, royalties went unpaid (here is the lawsuit). How much? NYU claims Pfizer owes 2.5 percent on Xalkori sales, which reached about $100 million last year and $120 million during the first half of this year. That works out to ...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs