Somaxon Pharmaceuticals (SOMX) announced yesterday’s, after market closet, hat it has entered into separate settlement arrangements with Mylan Inc. and its subsidiary, Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc. and its subsidiary Par Pharmaceutical, Inc. to resolve pending patent litigation involving Silenor(R) 3 mg and 6 mg tablets.
The settlement agreement with Mylan grants Mylan the exclusive right to begin selling an authorized generic version of Silenor on January 1, 2020, or earlier under certain circumstances. Mylan’s right to sell such an authorized generic product could extend for a period of as long as 360 days, and after such period Mylan will have the non-exclusive right to sell a generic version of Silenor under its Abbreviated New Drug Application.
The settlement agreement with Par grants Par the right to begin selling a generic version of Silenor 180 days after the earlier of the date that a third party’s generic version of Silenor is first sold in the United States under a license from Somaxon or a final court decision that the asserted patents are not infringed, invalid or unenforceable, or earlier under certain circumstances.
Richard W. Pascoe, Somaxon’s President and Chief Executive Officer, commented:
These settlement agreements reflect our continued confidence in the strength of our Silenor patents and allow us to more confidently devote resources to building the Silenor brand. We will continue to defend Silenor’s intellectual property against the remaining generic challengers with the goal of protecting its market exclusivity while allowing us to minimize further uncertainty and the cost of litigation. We believe that with the evolving clarity on Silenor’s exclusivity and revenue, we are well positioned to continue to work with our advisor, Stifel Nicolaus Weisel, to evaluate strategic alternatives with the objective of fully leveraging Silenor for the benefit of our stockholders.
Somaxon estimates net product sales for Silenor for the second quarter ended June 30, 2012 to be approximately $2.8 to $2.9 million.
Corporate Headquarters
10935 Vista Sorrento Parkway, Suite 250
San Diego, CA 92130
Tel: (858) 876-6500
Fax: (858) 509-1761
http://www.somaxon.com/
Somaxon Pharmaceuticals is a growing specialty pharmaceutical company dedicated to commercializing proprietary branded prescription therapeutics to treat important medical conditions where there is an unmet medical need and/or high-level of patient dissatisfaction. The company currently is focusing on in-licensing, developing and marketing proprietary products and late-stage product candidates for the treatment of diseases and disorders in the central nervous system therapeutic area.
On the other note, we sold our “long” position on StemCells, Inc. (STEM) yesterday’s afternoon and went “short” on it.
Lpath, inc. (LPTN), our undervalued investment opportunity pick, started to get some recognition from the sophisticated investors on expectations of a trial-based catalyst due in a few weeks.