The Boston Globe reported that litigation might be filed to resolve a dispute between Amgen Inc and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston regarding royalty payments received by the hospital that Amgen, the manufacture of Enbrel, contends are in excess of the terms of the licensing agreement.

According to the June 28th article by Christopher Rowland, Amgen believes that its interpretation of the terms of the license agreement, which the company acquired in the 2001 purchase of Immunex, may allow for reduced royalty payments to the hospital. Although neither party has disclosed the extent of the royalty dispute, a change in the payments - with projections of over $40 million annual royalty payments from Amgen - would require Massachusetts General Hospital, the compound's inventor Brian Seed, PhD, and his laboratory and department to face the prospect of readjusting their respective budgets.

Enbrel, which leads the market for biologic therapies for rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, is expected to reach sales of approximately $3 billion by next year. -- Nicholas K. Zittell