Northern Ireland based drugs company Galen has agreed to sell its oral contraceptive drug Loestrin, to Barr Barr Laboratories as part of deal to settle a patent dispute between the two companies.
Under the terms of the deal Barr will pay $45 million for the rights to Loestrin and for the resolution of the patent litigation and Galen will pay $1 million initially to Barr for the option to the rights of the contraceptive, Ovcon, followed by a $19 million payment if this exclusive licensing agreement is signed.
Analysts said that the deal looks positive for Galen as it removes the uncertainty on the products that were subject to patent litigation from Barr Labs, a manufacturer of generic drugs.
However they warned that risk remains that other generic companies may target the manufacture of generics of these products.