Eli Lilly owes Nektar $90 million in drug collaboration dispute, US jury says
LLY•A federal jury in California determined that Eli Lilly must pay Nektar Therapeutics $90 million for breaching a drug collaboration agreement. Nektar had sought $1 billion in damages.
1. Jury finds breach
The jury found that Lilly breached its duty of good faith in the collaboration over Rezpeg, an autoimmune drug candidate developed with Nektar. Nektar alleged Lilly undermined the drug’s prospects after acquiring competitor Dermira.
2. Companies respond
Lilly said the jury confirmed it used commercially reasonable efforts to develop Rezpeg and awarded only a small fraction of the damages Nektar sought. Lilly denied Nektar’s allegations, saying Rezpeg did not produce acceptable clinical trial results under standards the companies jointly developed.
