Protiva Biotherapeutics Announces INEX Pharmaceuticals Bankruptcy Petition Withdrawn
The bankruptcy petition was filed by Inex on February 26, 2007 on the basis that Protiva had not paid Inex $71,882.89 for certain patent costs incurred by Inex between July 2006 and December 2006. As Inex was informed at the time of its submission, the reason Protiva did not reimburse Inex for its costs was because the patents in question are at issue in the ongoing litigation between the companies, and not because Protiva lacked the available funds to do so.
To ensure the petition was withdrawn expeditiously and to eliminate the legal costs of fighting it, Protiva has reimbursed Inex for the total amount owed.
"We are pleased that this petition, which in our view was frivolous to begin with, has been withdrawn," said Protiva's President and CEO, Dr. Mark Murray. "We fully expect Inex will continue its campaign against Protiva. For our part, we will focus on our business and continue to pursue our claims against Inex in court, where we expect to prevail. In the US, Sirna and Merck underestimated the validity of our claims, and have now found themselves enjoined by the California Superior Court from using our intellectual property. We expect to have the same kind of success against Inex. In both cases, we will be seeking to protect our intellectual property as well as substantial monetary damages."
About Protiva
Founded in 2001, Protiva Biotherapeutics Inc. is focused on the development of nucleic acid based pharmaceutical products to fight serious human diseases, such as cancer, influenza (including H5N1), Ebola, inflammatory diseases and other chronic viral infections. Protiva's proprietary Stable Nucleic-Acid Lipid Particle (SNALP) technology is an encapsulation and delivery system for nucleic acid payloads, such as short interfering RNA (siRNA), to target cells. It represents a breakthrough in the field of RNA interference.
Protiva is headquartered in Vancouver, B.C. with offices in Seattle, Washington. For more information, visit www.protivabio.com.
Contact: Contacts: Protiva Biotherapeutics Inc. Mark J. Murray, PH.D. President and Chief Executive Officer Vancouver: (604) 630-5063 Website: http://www.protivabio.com
Longview Communications Inc. David Ryan Media contact (604) 694-6031 Email: dryan@longviewcomms.ca
Source: Protiva Biotherapeutics Inc.