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HGS Anticipates Milestone Payment From Novartis

September 6, 2007

Novartis will pay Human Genome Sciences (HGS) $40 million in September for having successfully completed a Phase IIb trial of Albuferon in treatment-naive patients with chronic hepatitis C, HGS announced.

Under an agreement the companies entered into last year, HGS and Novartis plan to co-commercialize Albuferon (albinterferon alfa-2b) in the U.S. and share clinical development costs, U.S. commercialization costs and U.S. profits equally, HGS said.

Novartis will be responsible for commercialization in the rest of the world and will pay HGS a royalty on those sales. Clinical development, commercial milestone and other payments to HGS could total as much as $507.5 million, the company added.

HGS also reported that it has completed enrollment ahead of schedule in the first pivotal Phase III trial of Albuferon, and the company now expects to have Phase III data available by the spring of 2009, with filing of global marketing authorization applications anticipated by the fall of 2009.