SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 21 2004 LAWFUEL – Law, attorney, lawsuit, law firm newsGenentech, Inc. (NYSE: DNA) today announced that the California Court of Appeal has upheld a 2002 judgment of the Los Angeles County Superior Court award for City of Hope (COH). The company also announced it will seek review by the
California Supreme Court, which has discretion over which cases it will
review.
“We are disappointed with today’s appellate court decision, and we plan
to seek review by the California Supreme Court,” said Stephen G.
Juelsgaard, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of
Genentech. “Today’s decision will have no effect on the company’s
day-to-day operations or its ability to continue providing medicines
for serious or life-threatening medical conditions such as cancer and
immunological disorders. While we will seek review, we have already
recorded litigation-related special charges for the amount of the
judgment and related costs.”
The original 2002 award of approximately $300 million in compensatory
and $200 million in punitive damages resulted from a retrial of a 1999
contract dispute lawsuit brought by COH against Genentech.
About the Contract Dispute and Lawsuit
Genentech will promptly seek review of this decision. Under the
long-held interpretation of the 1976 agreement in question, Genentech
paid COH royalty payments on sales of products made using DNA produced
by COH and that used the patented technology that resulted from the
sponsored research. “We have always believed that we treated City of
Hope fairly, living up to the letter and spirit of the contract, and
paying them more than $300 million over 20 years,” said Juelsgaard.
COH filed the original contract dispute suit against Genentech in
1999. The first trial resulted in a hung jury, 7-5 in Genentech’s
favor, in October 2001. In the retrial, the jury deliberated for 17
days before announcing the verdict on June 10, 2002, which directed
Genentech to pay approximately $300 million in additional royalties,
including royalties on products for which Genentech itself did not
receive royalties. The trial continued three days and the jury
deliberated an additional three days before announcing the punitive
damages award granted to COH.
About Genentech
Genentech is a leading biotechnology company that discovers, develops,
manufactures and commercializes biotherapeutics for significant unmet
medical needs. A considerable number of the currently approved
biotechnology products originated from or are based on Genentech
science. Genentech manufactures and commercializes multiple
biotechnology products directly in the United States and licenses
several additional products to other companies. The company has
headquarters in South San Francisco, California and is traded on the
New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DNA. For additional
information about the company, please visit http://www.gene.com .
CONTACT: media, Caroline Pecquet, +1-650-467-7078, or Mary Stutts,
+1-650-225-5759, or investors, Kathee Littrell, +1-650-225-1034, all of
Genentech, Inc.
Web Site: http://www.gene.com
