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Business Briefs
Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Saturday, December 22, 2001



Schering-Plough receives approval for allergy drug

WASHINGTON >> Schering-Plough Corp. yesterday won long-awaited U.S. approval for the successor to its blockbuster allergy pill Claritin but said it may have to pay up to $500 million to resolve plant problems.

The drug maker, which also warned that its fourth-quarter earnings would likely be about 12 percent below Wall Street consensus expectations, said it was in negotiations with regulators to reach a consent decree.

Such a legal agreement would aim to resolve manufacturing issues at plants in New Jersey and Puerto Rico. As part of the deal, the company could pay a fine as high as $500 million, Schering-Plough said .

The Food and Drug Administration said it had approved Clarinex, a new version of Claritin that was delayed for months by the plant problems. Clarinex is billed as a slightly faster-acting version of Claritin, a $3 billion a year antihistamine that is due to go off patent in December 2002 and face competition from cheaper generic copies. Schering-Plough's strategy is to switch Claritin patients to Clarinex before Claritin, the company's flagship drug, loses patent protection.

Akamai, Digital Island both claim wins in patent suit

Boston >> Akamai Technologies Inc. said a federal jury ruled that rival Digital Island Inc., which was founded in Hawaii but later moved to Silicon Valley, infringed its patent for speeding data to Internet users. A separate trial will determine how much damages are owed. Digital Island said the same jury invalidated "key claims" of an Akamai patent.

The eight-member jury in Boston ruled that Digital Island, bought by Britain's Cable & Wireless Plc in August, infringed a patent issued to Akamai founders Tom Leighton and the late Daniel Lewin. Neither company was able to prove infringement in two other patents in the case, the jury determined after a two- week trial.

Akamai accused Digital Island of infringing two Akamai patents in a suit filed in September 2000. Digital Island sued a week later, accusing Akamai of infringing one of its patents.

In other news . . .

ROCHESTER, N.Y. >> Palm Inc. said yesterday it will appeal a federal court ruling that it infringed on a Xerox Corp. patent for a handwriting-recognition system used in tens of millions of Palm handheld electronic organizers. Xerox successfully argued that its scientists invented the "Unistroke" software that recognizes one-stroke motions as characters. The office equipment company now wants to force Palm and its former parent, 3Com Corp., to pay a windfall in license fees.





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