MIGDAL HA'EMEQ, Israel, April 28, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Enzymotec Ltd. (Nasdaq:ENZY) ("Enzymotec" or the "Company"), a developer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative bio-active lipid ingredients, announced today that it signed a final settlement and license agreement with Neptune Technologies & Bioressources Inc. (Nasdaq:NEPT) ("Neptune") and Acasti Pharma Inc. ("Acasti"). The International Trade Commission's ("ITC") investigation and related U.S. federal court actions will be terminated and dismissed accordingly.
According to the terms of the agreement, Enzymotec received a worldwide non-exclusive license to the entire 8,030,348 patent family (the "'348 Family") for as long as any patent in that family exists, for all of the Company's relevant current products and future anticipated products under development.
Enzymotec agreed to a one-time settlement payment to Neptune which will not have a material impact on the Company's results of operations and financial position, taking into consideration the legal expenses that will be saved by this settlement.
No further payments will be paid by Enzymotec worldwide, other than as detailed below:
In North America: No future royalty payments will be paid by Enzymotec unless the outcome of the Inter Partes Review of Neptune's 8,278,351 patent instituted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") will be unfavorable to Enzymotec.
Regarding the 8,278,351 patent status: In January 2014, a USPTO Examiner issued a Non-Final Office Action rejecting all the claims of the '351 patent in an ex parte reexamination. In addition, in March 2014, the USPTO issued a decision instituting an inter partes review of the '351 patent, concluding that there is reasonable likelihood that the petitioner will prevail in demonstrating unpatentability of the '351 patent claims at issue.
In Australia: No patent in Neptune's '348 family has been granted to date. No royalty payments will be paid by Enzymotec in Australia unless, if and when a patent is granted to Neptune, the outcome of a reexamination of such patent by the Australian Intellectual Property Office, which may be requested by Enzymotec, will be unfavorable to Enzymotec.
"We are very pleased with the terms of the agreement, and as we previously stated, we agreed to sign a final settlement and license agreement only when we achieved the terms that we believe are in the best interest of the Company," said Enzymotec's President and CEO Dr. Ariel Katz. "We respect Neptune's desire to keep the financial terms of the agreement confidential, although we did not object to disclosing such terms."
About Enzymotec Ltd.
Enzymotec is a leading global supplier of specialty lipid-based products and solutions. The Company develops, manufactures and markets innovative bio-active lipid ingredients, as well as final products, based on sophisticated processes and technologies. For more information, visit www.enzymotec.com.
Forward Looking Statement
This release may contain forward-looking statements, which express the current beliefs and expectations of Company management, including with respect to the Company's current expectations, estimates and projections about the anticipated effects and benefits of the settlement, and certain assumptions made by the Company, all of which are subject to change. Such statements involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause the anticipated results and benefits of the settlement to differ significantly from the outcomes expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including the factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2013. Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.