Statement re Court Ruling
January 28 2005 - 12:00PM
UK Regulatory
RNS Number:9588H
Cambridge Antibody Tech Group PLC
28 January 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
17.00 GMT, 12.00 EST Friday 28 January 2005
For further information contact: Weber Shandwick Square Mile
(Europe)
Cambridge Antibody Technology Tel: +44 (0) 20 7067 0700
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 471 471 Kevin Smith
Peter Chambre, Chief Executive Officer
John Aston, Chief Financial Officer
Rowena Gardner, Director of Corporate
Communications
BMC Communications/The Trout Group
(USA)
Tel: +1 212 477 9007
Brad Miles, ext 17 (media)
Brandon Lewis, ext 15 (investors)
CAMBRIDGE ANTIBODY TECHNOLOGY LEGAL ACTION WITH ABBOTT:
RULING ON PROCEDURAL MATTERS, 28 JANUARY 2005
Cambridge, UK... Cambridge Antibody Technology (LSE: CAT; NASDAQ: CATG) reports
that in its action in the High Court in London against Abbott, the trial judge,
Mr Justice Laddie, has announced his decision on various procedural matters
arising from his judgment given in CAT's favour on 20 December 2004.
The judge ruled in CAT's favour on all counts, and in particular as follows:
*He denied Abbott's request for permission to appeal his judgement of 20
December 2004, though Abbott can now apply to the Court of Appeal directly
for permission to appeal;
*He ordered that Abbott pay CAT's costs of the case (to be assessed in due
course). Part of these costs will be assessed, as sought by CAT, on a higher
basis than the norm to reflect the Judges' view on the merits on that part
of the case.
Abbott has agreed to pay to CAT an amount of #2.85 million representing an
interim payment of costs due.
Abbott paid yesterday to CAT an amount of US$23.7 million, representing royalty
arrears due to CAT arising from the original judgment, and has agreed to pay to
CAT an additional sum of US$1.29 million, representing interest and compensation
for currency loss on this amount.
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors
Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT):
* CAT is a biopharmaceutical company using its proprietary technologies
and capabilities in human monoclonal antibodies for drug discovery and drug
development. Based near Cambridge, England, CAT currently employs around 280
people.
* CAT is a leader in the discovery and development of human therapeutic
antibodies and has an advanced proprietary technology for rapidly isolating
human monoclonal antibodies using phage display and ribosome display
systems. CAT has extensive phage antibody libraries, currently incorporating
more than 100 billion distinct antibodies. These libraries form the basis
for the Company's strategy to develop a portfolio of antibody-based drugs.
* Four CAT human therapeutic antibody products are now at various stages
of clinical development, with one further product candidate in pre-clinical
development.
* HUMIRA, the leading CAT-derived antibody, isolated and optimised in
collaboration with Abbott, has been approved for marketing as a treatment
for rheumatoid arthritis in 51 countries. Six further licensed CAT-derived
human therapeutic antibodies are in clinical development by licensees, with
four further licensed product candidates in pre-clinical development.
* CAT has alliances with a number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies to discover, develop and commercialise human monoclonal
antibody-based products.
* CAT has a strategic alliance with AstraZeneca to discover and develop
human antibody therapeutics in inflammatory disorders.
* CAT has a broad collaboration with Genzyme for the development and
commercialisation of antibodies directed against TGF, a family of proteins
associated with fibrosis and scarring. This collaboration has so far given
rise to one antibody product candidate at clinical development stage, and
one at pre-clinical development stage.
* CAT has also licensed its proprietary technologies to several companies.
CAT's licensees include: Abbott, Amgen, Chugai, Genzyme, Human Genome
Sciences, Merck & Co, Pfizer and Wyeth Research.
* CAT is listed on the London Stock Exchange and on NASDAQ. CAT raised
#41m in its IPO in March 1997 and #93m in a secondary offering in March
2000.
CAT - Abbott Litigation
* CAT's entitlement to royalties in relation to sales of HUMIRA is
governed by an agreement dated 1 April 1995 between Cambridge Antibody
Technology Limited and Knoll Aktiengesellschaft. The agreement allows for
offset, in certain circumstances, of royalties due to third parties against
royalties due to CAT, subject to a minimum royalty level.
* In March 2003, Abbott indicated to CAT its wish to initiate discussions
regarding the applicability of the royalty offset provisions for HUMIRA.
Following unsuccessful efforts to resolve the matter with Abbott, CAT
commenced legal proceedings against Abbott Biotechnology Limited and Abbott
GmbH.
* The trial, which took place at the High Court in London, began on 22
November 2004 and lasted three weeks.
* On 20 December 2004, the judge, Mr Justice Laddie, ruled in CAT's favour
stating that "Abbott was in error when it made its first royalty payment to
CAT calculated on the basis that only 2% of the Net Sales was due. It should
have calculated on the basis of the full royalty of just over 5% and should
have paid and continued to pay CAT accordingly."
Application of the Safe Harbor of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995: This press release contains statements about Cambridge Antibody
Technology Group plc ("CAT") that are forward looking statements. All statements
other than statements of historical facts included in this press release may be
forward looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. These forward looking statements are based on numerous
assumptions regarding the company's present and future business
Page 2 of 3
strategies and the environment in which the company will operate in the future.
Certain factors that could cause the company's actual results, performance or
achievements to differ materially from those in the forward looking statements
include: market conditions, CAT's ability to enter into and maintain
collaborative arrangements, success of product candidates in clinical trials,
regulatory developments and competition. We caution investors not to place undue
reliance on the forward looking statements contained in this press release.
These statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and we
undertake no obligation to update or revise the statements.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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