Merck will pay $625 million and royalties to settle Keytruda patent litigation with Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ono Pharma
Merck & Co. Inc. will pay $625 million and royalties to Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. to settle patent litigation over Merck's cancer drug Keytruda, the companies said Friday afternoon. As part of the settlement all patent litigation will be dismissed, and the companies have granted certain patent rights to each other. Merck will pay royalties on global Keytruda sales of 6.5% between 2017 and the end of 2023 and 2.5% between 2024 and 2026, with the royalties being split 75/25 between Bristol-Myers and Ono. Merck said the $625 million payment would be recorded in its fourth-quarter and full-year 2016 results, but excluded from its non-GAAP results. In their lawsuit against Merck, Bristol-Myers and Ono, which made cancer drug Opdivo, said its Keytruda sales infringed on various of its global patents. Bristol-Myers shares slumped 2.2% over the last three months, compared with a 1.0% rise in Merck shares and a 6.1% rise in the S&P 500 .
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