Eli Lilly gives $6 M after settling lawsuit

INDIANAPOLIS -- A medical research foundation that settled a $100 million drug patent lawsuit against Eli Lilly and Co. a year ago found itself on the receiving end of a $6 million gift from the drug maker Tuesday, with past harsh words replaced by mutual praise.\nThe money to create two endowed faculty chairs in biomedical research is the largest gift in the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation's 58-year history, said Adam Cohen, director of legal and public affairs.\n"We view this as an incredibly generous gesture by Eli Lilly," Cohen said.\nThe gift continues a partnership of more than two decades between Indianapolis-based Lilly and the nonprofit foundation that conducts research on blood and cardiovascular diseases.\nBut research by two foundation doctors into a blood poisoning treatment led the foundation more than two years ago to sue Lilly in a complaint that sought $100 million in damages. The patent-infringement lawsuit contended the doctors' work helped lead to the development of Xigris, a drug Lilly introduced in November 2001 to treat life-threatening blood infections.\nThe foundation argued it was owed an upfront payment for Xigris' development plus a share of sales. Lilly contended it took financial and scientific risks to develop Xigris, and should reap the rewards.\nAt the time, the foundation's president, Dr. J. Donald Capra, was quoted as saying, "If Eli Lilly wins, that will send a signal to scientists not to trust big pharmacy companies."\nIn a Tuesday news release announcing the $6 million gift, Capra credited Lilly with making "an extraordinary investment" and said the foundation was "deeply grateful to Lilly for its generous support of OMRF's efforts to recruit and retain world-class scientists."\nLilly also had kind words for the foundation Tuesday. "This gift salutes our teamwork, and we are confident it will help find treatments and cures for some of today's most challenging medical problems," said Dr. J. Anthony Ware, a Lilly vice president.\nThe Oklahoma City-based foundation and Lilly settled the foundation's lawsuit out of court last year. Terms were not disclosed, but a Lilly spokeswoman said then the settlement amount was "immaterial" to the company and less than $100 million. Lilly and the foundation said they expected to continue collaborating.\nTuesday Cohen, of the foundation, and Lilly spokeswoman Asia Martin declined to say whether there was a connection between the lawsuit's settlement and Lilly's gift. Both said terms of the settlement would remain confidential.\nThe gift will give the foundation its 13th and 14th endowed faculty chairs.