Kos, Barr Discuss Patent Deal

The two companies have been battling over a cholesterol drug since 2002.
By Robert Steyer ,

Shares of

Kos Pharmaceuticals

(KOSP)

jumped Wednesday after the company said it was negotiating a settlement to a patent dispute with

Barr Pharmaceuticals

, a subsidiary of

Barr Laboratories

(BRL)

.

The dispute involves the cholesterol drug Niaspan, which produced $320.6 million, or 65% of Kos' revenue last year.

Shares of Kos, which specializes in heart care and respiratory drugs, climbed $7.92, or 24%, to $40.77. By noon, more than 7 million shares had been traded -- 17 times the average daily trade for the last three months.

Barr's stock was up 19 cents to $47.87.

Niaspan is an extended release form of niacin, a B-complex vitamin. It acts to lower levels of bad cholesterol and raise levels of good cholesterol. It isn't a member of the statin class of drugs that include

Pfizer's

(PFE) - Get Report

Lipitor.

The patent case is currently before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The companies said Wednesday the case could be reactivated if they fail to reach an agreement. A trial has been tentatively set for February 2006.

The companies have been fighting since 2002 over three dosage versions of Niaspan. Kos says Barr is infringing on Kos' patent, and earlier this month Kos sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop Barr from selling the generic copies. Barr says it has received conditional approval from the Food and Drug Administration to begin selling the generic drug tomorrow.

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