6 January 2016, Melbourne: Australian biotechnology company, Phosphagenics Limited (ASX: POH; OTCQX: PPGNY), announced today that it has commenced legal action against Mylan Laboratories Limited (Mylan), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mylan Incorporated, by filing notices of arbitration at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.
Phosphagenics and Agila Specialties Private Limited (Agila) entered into a Master Research Agreement (in 2011) and a Licensing Agreement (in 2012) to develop and ultimately commercialise a formulation combining Phosphagenics’ proprietary TPM® technology with the injectable antibiotic daptomycin, which is indicated for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections, and staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections. In 2013 Mylan acquired Agila. A lead TPM®/Daptomycin formulation is in the final stages of development by Mylan and, based on a patent filed by Agila, is expected to have commercial advantages over the existing formulation of daptomycin. Daptomycin is currently marketed by Merck under the brand name Cubicin, and is expected to have generic competition in the United States in June 2016.
The arbitration notices assert that Mylan is liable for breaches of several provisions under the two relevant agreements, fraudulent or negligent misrepresentations, breaches of confidence and/or unjust enrichment in relation to intellectual property and commercial licensing terms, amongst others. The dispute has been referred to arbitration in Singapore, in accordance with the relevant agreements.
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