Bristol-Myers will pay $5m to settle Repligen suit

Repligen Corp. of Waltham said Tuesday that Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. agreed to pay $5 million plus royalties to settle a patent infringement lawsuit for a rheumatoid arthritis treatment.

Repligen's suit, filed in Texas in January 2006, accused Bristol-Myers of infringement based on the sale of its Orencia rheumatoid arthritis treatment.

Bristol-Myers also agreed to pay royalties on the US net sales of Orencia for any clinical indication at a rate of 1.8 percent for the first $500 million of annual sales, 2 percent for the next $500 million of annual sales and 4 percent of US annual sales in excess of $1 billion for each year from Jan. 1, 2008, until Dec. 31, 2013.

Analysts have estimated Orencia sales could eventually reach $1 billion per year.

The settlement also gives Bristol Myers an exclusive worldwide license of certain patent rights of Repligen and the University of Michigan.

"Based on analysts' estimates of US sales of Orencia, we expect total cash receipts from our Protein A business, Orencia royalties, research and development and other income of greater than $30 million for fiscal year 2009, beginning April 1, 2008," Walter C. Herlihy, Repligen's chief executive, said in a statement.

Rheumatoid arthritis affects more than 2 million people in the United States.

A Bristol-Myers spokesman wasn't immediately able to comment. (AP)