Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd: Judgement in Litigation between Actelion and Asahi Kasei is issued by Californian Court

November 21, 2011 | by Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd

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November 21, 2011, Actelion (SIX: ATLN) today confirmed its intention to appeal the verdict in the case of Asahi Kasei Pharma Corp. v. Actelion Ltd. et al (case number CIV 478533, Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Mateo). This decision follows Friday's issuance of an amended final judgment by the trial court.


Prior to the judgment, Asahi consented to a further reduction of USD 99.2 million from the jury award rather than opt for a new trial limited to compensatory damages. When combined with the court's 29 July 2011 reduction of USD 70.35 million - the court's award now stands at USD 407.325 million, which includes punitive damages of USD 30 million against certain individual officers of the company. In addition, the court awarded USD 8.3 million in pre- judgment interest and costs. The company and its external advisors continue to believe that the jury verdict and the trial court's judgment are neither supported by the facts nor correct as a matter of law. The company strongly believes there are significant grounds for a successful appeal, notice of which will be filed with the California Courts of Appeal in due course.

About Actelion's provisions
Actelion recorded a provision of USD 577 million (CHF 485.2 million) in the second quarter financial statements. On 29 July 2011, Actelion announced that the court had granted Actelion's post-trial motion for the offset of a previous arbitration payment and applied a reduction of USD 70.35 million to the 4 May 2011 jury award of USD 577 million. As a result, the provision was adjusted in the third quarter financial statements to reflect CHF 430.2 million. The provision will now be adjusted further in the Full Year financial statements to reflect the final award pending appeal. In addition, the pre-judgment interest charge included in the final award was also recorded in the second and third quarter financial statements based on the preliminary award and will now be adjusted to reflect the interest charge on the final award pending appeal.

Contact
Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd Gewerbestrasse 16 4123 Allschwil Tel. 061 565 62 62 Faxc 061 565 65 07

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Source: Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Press release