AstraZeneca pays $775 million to settle drug dispute with Japan's Chugai

FILE PHOTO: The logo of AstraZeneca is seen on medication packages in a pharmacy in London April 28, 2014. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

(Reuters) - Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc said on Thursday it would pay $775 million to settle a patent dispute with Japan's Chugai Pharmaceutical involving lucrative rare disease treatment Ultomiris.

Both AstraZeneca and Chugai will withdraw patent infringement cases filed in the United States and Japan dating back to 2018 as part of the settlement, the London-listed company said in a statement.

AstraZeneca will book the settlement payment as a charge in its first-quarter results. The payment won't affect its annual financial forecasts.

Ultomiris, which fetched nearly $700 million in 2021 sales, is developed by AstraZeneca's rare disease division Alexion, a U.S. drugmaker acquired by the British firm last year for $39 billion.

The drug was initially developed as a treatment for the neurological disorder ALS, but Alexion halted these efforts last year after lack of efficacy in a late-stage trial.

Ultomiris is currently approved in some markets as a treatment for two rare diseases - atypical-HUS, a condition that affects kidney function, and PNH, a serious blood disorder.

(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

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