Sarepta, BioMarin settle dispute

Sarepta will pay BioMarin $35 million to settle a lengthy patent dispute over treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The companies’ legal tangle centered on patents related to antisense oligonucleotides that allow a missing muscular protein to be made in boys with DMD. BioMarin also scores a 5% royalty on U.S. sales of exon-skipping compounds 51, 45, and 53 and an 8% royalty on European sales. The deal helps BioMarin recoup some of the roughly $840 million it paid in 2014 to acquire Prosensa, a Dutch biotech firm whose lead DMD drug, drisapersen, was later rejected by FDA.