Par owes Pentech $70 mil for Paxil breach

Par Pharmaceutical Cos. must pay $70 million to Pentech Pharmaceuticals Inc. in a contract dispute over the marketing of a generic version of the antidepressant drug Paxil, a judge ruled.

Pentech, a Rolling Meadows drugmaker, sued Par in 2004, claiming the company had violated a supply and marketing agreement first created while Pentech was defending a separate suit over the pill brought by Paxil maker GlaxoSmithKline.

"Par has breached the contract because it has failed to pay Pentech the full amount due," U.S. Magistrate Judge Morton Denlow ruled yesterday, ending a non-jury trial in Chicago federal court.

Denlow awarded Pentech, a closely held company based in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, contract damages of $49.5 million, plus more than $20.4 in interest.

"Par and its counsel received the court's decision yesterday afternoon and are considering the company's options for appeal," the Woodcliff, New Jersey-based company said today in a statement.

Under the contract created in 2001 and revised a year later, Par had agreed to provide Pentech with financial assistance for Pentech's development of a generic version of the prescription anti-depressant.

GlaxoSmithKline is based in Brentford, U.K.

The case is Pentech Pharmaceuticals v. Par Pharmaceutical Inc., 04cv3149, in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago).