Seagen Suffers Loss In Arbitration Dispute Over ADC Technology

As Seagen Inc SGEN awaits a final buyout offer from Merck & Co Inc MRK, Seagen lost an arbitration dispute with Daiichi Sankyo DSKNY relating to the companies' 2008 collaboration around the use of antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology.
An arbitrator gave the win to Japan's Daiichi in the clash over an antibody-drug conjugate technology-sharing pact that stretches back to 2008.
"While we are disappointed with the arbitration decision, it was important for us to pursue this legal action," Roger Dansey, M.D., Seagen's interim chief executive and chief medical officer, said.
After breaking off its pact with Daiichi in mid-2015, the two companies battled over "linker" technology used are improvements to Seagen's (then Seattle Genetics) ADC technology, the ownership of which are automatically assigned to Seattle Genetics under the terms of the agreement.
"By filing this lawsuit, Daiichi Sankyo has circumvented the process underway between the parties under these provisions," Seattle Genetics wrote in a statement in 2019 responding to the legal action.
In April this year, Texas federal jury found Daiichi's Enhertu infringed a Seagen-held patent. Seagen scored $41.8 million in royalty revenue from Daiichi.
Price Action: SGEN shares are up 1.09% at $172.00 during the premarket session on the last check Monday.