Judge Throws Out NYU Claim Against Pfizer

Pfizer does not owe millions of dollars in royalties to New York University for sales of lung cancer drug Xalkori, a Manhattan Supreme Court justice has ruled.

NYU, which filed a suit in 2013, has maintained that Pfizer owed royalties for the drug the school said it was instrumental in making. NYU sought royalties of 2.5 percent on Xalkori’s sales under a 1991 licensing agreement. Worldwide sales of Xalkori were $438 million in 2014.

Pfizer has described NYU’s claim as unreasonable, noting the research agreement was made with Sugen, a company acquired by Pharmacia.  Pfizer bought Pharmacia in 2003.

Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich was persuaded by Pfizer’s arguments.  In particular, she highlights that NYU’s technology didn’t help identify the Xalkori’s target, EML4-ALK.  She determined that as part of an agreement between NYU and Sugen, the school’s technology would have had to contribute to the identification of EML4-ALK as the target.

Read the decision here: www.fdanews.com/12-28-15-pfizer.pdf.