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NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Dec 20, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Xechem International, Inc. (XKEM) Xechem International announced today that it has settled its antitrust lawsuit against Bristol-Meyers Squibb Co. for $4.2 million. Court files reveal that the case against Bristol-Meyers, which was brought in federal district court in Chicago in 2003, was based on Xechem's allegations that Bristol-Meyers had engaged in anticompetitive practices relating to Xechem's efforts to manufacture and bring to market the drug paclitaxel, a generic equivalent of Bristol's cancer drug, TAXOL(R). Similar allegations against Bristol had previously been raised in lawsuits brought by other generic drug companies which settled out of court. Bristol-Meyers has not admitted to any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. (For more information regarding the settlement, please refer to the Company's Form 8-K of public record.)
Settlement Proceeds Will Further Xechem's Efforts to Launch Sickle Cell Drug
According to Dr. Ramesh C. Pandey, Xechem's chairman and CEO, the timing of the settlement was as important to Xechem as the dollars involved: "The settlement with Bristol-Meyers could not have come at a better time for Xechem. As people who have been following our company are aware, we have been working on the development of NICOSAN(TM)/HEMOXIN(TM), a promising drug to be used in the treatment of Sickle Cell Disease, a devastating disease that afflicts millions of people worldwide, mostly in Africa, Greece, Turkey, Italy, the Arabian Peninsula, India and Latin America, including South America, Central America and parts of the Caribbean. We hope to bring NICOSAN(TM) to the Nigerian market in early 2006, and at the same time, embark on the clinical trials in the US hospitals for FDA approval through a New Drug Application (NDA) for sale of the drug in the United States. Xechem has already received Orphan Drug Designation for NICOSAN(TM) from the US-FDA, which gives Xechem seven years of marketing exclusivity in the USA. The money from the Bristol settlement will go a long way to realizing the goal of bringing this important drug to market." According to Dr. Pandey, the settlement, which is still being documented, should be completed by year end and the funds made available to Xechem shortly thereafter.
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