Anika Therapeutics Announces Dismissal Of Monovisc Patent Infringement Lawsuit

(RTTNews) - Anika Therapeutics Inc. (ANIK) announced that Genzyme Corp. (plaintiff) and Anika Therapeutics Inc. (defendant) filed a joint motion with the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts to lift a stay and dismiss a patent infringement lawsuit concerning Monovisc.

The court granted the parties' motion and issued an order dismissing the litigation with prejudice on March 10, 2014. This final and unappealable order resolves the parties' dispute and is another important milestone toward commercialization of the product in the United States.

Monovisc, a single-injection treatment for osteoarthritis pain of the knee, received FDA PMA approval in February 2014.

Monovisc is marketed in the U.S. by DePuy Synthes, Mitek Sports Medicine. As per the license agreement with Mitek, Anika will receive a milestone payment of $17.5 million upon an irrevocable resolution of the Genzyme litigation allowing Mitek and Anika to make, use, and sell Monovisc without infringing the Genzyme intellectual property. The agreement also calls for potential additional payments contingent on achieving certain performance and sales threshold milestones, in addition to product transfer and royalty fees.