Astellas, Vivendi, Washington Post: Intellectual Property

Astellas Pharma Inc. said its OSI Pharmaceuticals subsidiary, along with Roche Holding AG’s Genentech and Pfizer Inc., will terminate a case against Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. relating to patents for the cancer drug Tarceva. Settlement terms weren’t disclosed.

OSI sued Teva in federal court in Delaware in March 2009, accusing the Israeli generic-drug maker of infringing patents 6,900,221, 7,087,613 and 5,747,498.

Tarceva is used to treat small-cell lung cancer. The litigation was triggered when Petah Tikva, Israel-based Teva applied to produce a generic form of the drug.

The order dismissing Teva as a defendant was filed March 15, according to court filings.

The case is OSA Pharmaceuticals v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals, 1:09-cv-00185-SLR, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).

Zogenix Migraine Treatment Method Gets Patent Term Extension

Zogenix Inc., a San Diego-based pharmaceutical maker, said it received an eight-year extension on a patent covering a method of injecting its Sumavel migraine headache treatment.

The patent, 7,776,007, was issued in August 2010, according to the database of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The DosePro needle-free delivery system will be protected by the patent through 2025, Zogenix said in a statement yesterday. The product was first introduced in the U.S. in January 2010.

The patent covers the procedures for a patient to self- administer the drug using the Zogenix device. Germany and the U.K. approved the Sumavel DosePro in January.

CyDex Pharmaceuticals hires VP of business development, marketing

CyDex Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Monday that it has named Richard White as vice president of business development and marketing.

White succeeds Ralph Johnston, who left the company in May to return to the East Coast, CFO Allen Roberson said.

White comes to Lenexa-based Cydex from Astellas Pharma Inc., where he was vice president of portfolio/strategic planning and vice president of sales and marketing for the Critical Care Division, according to a release.

Astellas, which has headquarters in North Deerfield, Ill., and Tokyo, has products that include drugs for overactive bladder and transplant patients.

CyDex is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing products and licensing its Captisol technology, which improves the body’s absorption of drugs.

Two U.S. IPOs Lined Up For June

Two IPOs are lined up for the U.S. markets this month, with a medical data software company and a Chinese water treatment equipment supplier preparing to go public.

The first initial public offering that is expected, from New York-based Medidata Solutions Inc., is scheduled to begin trading June 18 on the Nasdaq under the symbol MDSO. The other, Beijing's Duoyuan Global Water Inc., is slated to launch on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DGW some time during the week of June 22. Both offerings are small; Medidata is seeking to raise as much as $82 million, while Duoyuan is aiming for $75 million.

So far, June appears to be shaping up as a repeat of April and May in terms of U.S. IPO volume; there were three deals completed in each of those months.

Medidata Solutions makes software that pharmaceutical and medical-device companies use to manage information from their clinical trials; its customers include Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), AstraZeneca PLC (AZN), Amgen Inc. (AMGN), Astellas Pharma Inc. (ALPMF) and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. (TKPHF). Although its revenue has been rising rapidly, the company has a history of annual operating and net losses dating back to its inception.

Duoyuan Global Water, which distributes its water treatment equipment throughout 28 Chinese provinces, shows both revenue and profit gains. Revenue rose 40% on increased product demand and net income jumped 63% in 2008 compared to 2007. The company cites population growth and industrialization as factors that are driving demand for water treatment in the country.

APP Pharmaceutical bulks up on GI

Drug manufacturer APP Pharmaceutical Inc. has hired 50 employees from its industrial neighbor on Grand Island, Astellas Pharma, and continues to expand.

“We have finished hiring Astellas employees but are actively hiring for open manufacturing positions,” company spokeswoman Debra Lynn Ross said.

Based in Schaumberg, Ill., APP expected to take possession of the Astellas plant and property May 1. Both companies make pharmaceuticals.

In the last 30 days, APP met many of its increased production needs by hiring half of the Astellas workforce.

Astellas closed its Staley Road plant adjacent to APP Pharmaceutical after deciding to ship production of its sole product, a proprietary ointment, back to Japan where the company has headquarters.

Ross said APP plans to use the Astellas space for office, warehouse and laboratory purposes “as soon as registration and licensing have been approved, which is imminent.

“We are in the process of evaluating our product plans for the rest of the Astellas facility,” she said.

APP primarily makes injectable liquids for the health-care industry, but its product portfolio also includes ointments.

Between its Staley Road plant and an administration and warehouse operation on Lang Boulevard, APP’s Grand Island facilities employ more than 600 people.

Last January, COO Frank Harmon said the enlargement of APP Pharmaceutical’s production capabilities by the acquisition of the Astellas property could lead to creation of a major drug manufacturing center on Grand Island.

“I can’t be more specific at this time,” he said, “because it depends on what our labor requirements and resource requirements are at the time we move in.”

Several changes are planned or being studied. Some might not occur for three to five years, he said.

Most immediate, though, will be a centralization of some of APP’s functions on Lang Boulevard into the Astellas building.

In January, Harmon mentioned the possibility of a Grand Island research and development center being developed that would augment a suburban Chicago location.

“We should know by summer if we are going to expand in that direction,” he said, “but we are very much in the preliminary analysis stage.”

He envisioned one or two other possible scenarios including developing the Lang Boulevard building into a centralized East Coast distribution and warehousing center.

“A lot of things will be happening in the next 12 months,” Harmon said in January.