Once again, Pfizer will have to fend off claims by New York University that the drug maker owes “hundreds of millions of dollars” in royalties on a best-selling lung cancer treatment.
A New York state appeals court on Tuesday revived a four-year-old lawsuit in which the university maintains that Pfizer breached a long-standing contract and should pay 2.5 percent royalties on Xalkori, which racked up $561 million in sales last year. The New York State Supreme Court had dismissed the suit two years ago.
The medication was developed in 1996 by an NYU professor, Dr. Joseph Schlessinger, who later formed a company called Sugen, which struck a research and licensing deal with the school. However, Sugen was later purchased by Pharmacia, which Pfizer acquired in 2003.
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