U.S. drug maker Pfizer Inc. said Wednesday it will jointly receive with Japanese partner Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. a $2.15 billion settlement reached with two generic drug makers for patent infringement over a heartburn drug.
The two firms are Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. of Israel and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. of India. They launched generic versions of the drug Protonix before the patent for its active ingredient expired in 2011.
The drug was developed by the Swiss firm Nycomed, which is owned by Takeda, and was licensed to a Pfizer subsidiary. Pfizer will receive 64 percent of the settlement money, while the remainder will eventually go to former shareholders of Nycomed.