We promised our readers that we would let them know if the outstandingly contentious case of Asahi Kasei Pharma Corporation v. Actelion Ltd., et al. ever actually went to trial (see our previous blog entry, Decorum). Well, it did.
Not to keep the reader in suspense any longer than necessary, Asahi won. A California jury ordered Actelion to pay $547 million in damages. Actelion has filed a motion seeking to compel Asahi to make “an election of remedies,’ choosing either $358.95 million for alleged lost profits or $187.4 for alleged development costs, arguing that Asahi cannot be entitled to both (if compelled to make the choice, we know which amount we would choose). Actelion is also seeking a credit for $78.4 million it previously paid Asahi after losing an arbitration in 2009.
In passing, we note that, at trial, Asahi argued that Actelion “was desperate to keep competition away from Tracleer [its PAH treatment drug] “because the drug had caused 3,427 patient deaths that had gone unreported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.” Hopefully, someone at the F.D.A. is checking on that.