GSK files suit against AnaptysBio over licensing rights

(Sharecast News) - GSK has filed a lawsuit against AnaptysBio in the US over licensing rights for its Jemperli cancer treatment. The suit, via GSK's Tesaro subsidiary, alleges a breach of the current agreement, with the UK pharma firm demanding a perpetual license to the drug - also known as dostarlimab - and halving royalties and milestone payments to AnaptysBio.

"Tesaro has initiated this litigation following allegations made by AnaptysBio that Tesaro has not fulfilled certain requirements of the license agreement entered in March 2014 and that AnaptysBio intends to revoke Tesaro's licence for dostarlimab. GSK and Tesaro are firmly of the view that these allegations are entirely without merit," GSK said in a statement on Friday.

Jemperli is currently approved in more than 35 countries for use in certain endometrial cancers, the most common gynaecologic cancer in the US.

GSK added that it had reported significant growth for Jemperli driven by label expansions in endometrial cancer, including in the US and EU.

"A robust and ambitious clinical trial programme to evaluate the potential use of dostarlimab in additional cancers, including rectal, colon and head and neck, is ongoing."

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com