Celebrations at UK company, Cambridge Antibody Technology, relating to its legal victory over Abbott Laboratories in December, which gave it the right to a 5% royalty on sales of Abbott’s rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira (adalimumab) [[20/12/04c]], have had to be postponed.
CAT won a key round in the legal battle in the High Court in London last month, when the judge in the case ruled Abbott at fault for only paying CAT the minimum 2% royalty rate in their agreement on Humira, first inked in 1993. But the UK company said yesterday that various key issues in the case – including a determination of either companies‚ right to appeal and liability for costs in the case – would not be decided until a hearing on January 28. CAT launched its legal action against Abbott in 2003 [[15/10/03a]].
Humira has been a real success since its launch, racking up sales of $227 million dollars in the third quarter of 2004, a rise of 189% year-on-year [[15/10/04a]].
