Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Ltd. Enters Into Asset Purchase Agreement with Forest Laboratories, Inc. to Settle Lexapro(R) (escitalopram oxalate) ANDA Patent ...( DETROIT July 10 /- Caraco Pharmaceuti...),Health

DETROIT, July 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Ltd. (NYSE Amex: CPD) announced that, as part of the settlement of the legal proceedings related to Lexapro(R) (escitalopram oxalate) tablets, it entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement with Forest Laboratories, Inc. ("Forest") to acquire several products from Forest's Inwood line of business. The ANDA patent litigation settlement resolves litigation involving Caraco, Forest, Forest Holdings, Ltd., and H. Lundbeck A/S and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited ("Sun"). Caraco is a subsidiary of Sun.

Among other things, with respect to Caraco, the litigation settlement involves the following provisions:

1. Forest has agreed to provide licenses to Caraco for any patents related to Lexapro(R) with respect to the marketing of Caraco's generic version of the product as of the date that any third party generic enters the market with final approval from the FDA other than an authorized generic or the first filer with Hatch-Waxman related exclusivity.

2. Forest will reimburse Caraco for a portion of its attorney's fees related to this litigation.

3. Pursuant to the Asset Purchase Agreement (the "APA"), Caraco will take over the commercialization and sale of several products from Forest's Inwood business. Caraco will pay Forest an advance against royalties and royalties on net sales of these products.

The terms of the settlement will be submitted to the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice pursuant to the Medicare Modernization Act. The APA is scheduled to close no sooner than 40 days after the signing, which the parties hope will provide the FTC and DOJ with sufficient time to review the transaction. As the transaction must be submitted to the FTC and DOJ, there is a p
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