MediciNova Given Notice of Monetary Damages Due Under Patent Settlement of Sanofi-Novartis

LA JOLLA, Calif., Nov. 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MediciNova, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company traded on the NASDAQ Global Market (NASDAQ: MNOV) and the Standard Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (Code Number: 4875), today announced that it was notified by Sanofi that the Sanofi/Novartis litigation was settled. Accordingly, MediciNova is entitled to receive a certain amount of monetary damages through this settlement. Further details will be provided as they become available.

Yuichi Iwaki, M.D., Ph.D., MediciNova CEO commented, “The successful resolution of the Sanofi-Novartis litigation and the resulting monetary damages due to MediciNova both validates the value of our intellectual property and provides an additional source of non-dilutive funding, which we plan to apply to supporting our ongoing clinical development programs, particularly our late-stage pipeline targeting inflammatory, metabolic, and neurodegenerative diseases. This outcome further reinforces our commitment to developing unique assets with long-term value.  We remain dedicated to preserving our financial position as we continue to prudently advance our novel small molecule therapies towards commercialization."

About Sanofi/Novartis litigation

On March 30,2022, MediciNova, Inc. was notified that Genzyme Corporation, a subsidiary of Sanofi, filed its First Amended Complaint, which included a claim for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 9,051,542, on February 23, 2022 in a lawsuit previously filed against Novartis Gene Therapies, Inc., Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation, and Novartis AG in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. This patent, among others was included in the assignment Agreement dated December 19, 2005, between MediciNova, Inc., as successor in interest to Avigen, Inc. and Genzyme Corporation. The plaintiffs allege that the defendants infringe certain U.S. patents through the unauthorized manufacture, use, and sale of recombinant adeno-associated virus vectors (“rAAV vectors”) for their gene therapy drug Zolgensma. If Genzyme recovers any monetary damages, by way of settlement or otherwise, as a result of this litigation, then MediciNova is entitled to receive a certain portion of such monetary damages from Genzyme as per the terms of assignment agreement.