Mr. Tasuku Honjo, a special professor at Kyoto University who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, sued a pharmaceutical company in Osaka over the patent royalties for cancer drugs involved in the development. A settlement was reached on the 12th by paying 100 million yen and donating 23 billion yen to Kyoto University.
Mr. Tasuku Honjo, a special professor at Kyoto University who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine three years ago, paid a patent royalties to Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. in Osaka, which manufactures and sells Opdivo, a cancer treatment drug that he was involved in developing. He filed a lawsuit in the Osaka District Court for payment of 26.2 billion yen, alleging that the allocation of Nivolumab was abnormally low.
Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. will donate 5 billion yen to Mr. Honjo as a settlement money in this trial on the 12th, and 23 billion yen to the research fund created by Ono Pharmaceutical and Mr. Honjo, which will be established at Kyoto University. Announced that a settlement was reached.
In the trial held at the Osaka District Court, Mr. Honjo and President Gyo Sagara of Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. were questioned and their claims were in direct conflict, but the court recommended a settlement.
Mr. Honjo "I want to support basic research with funds and donations from companies."
In response to the settlement, Mr. Honjo said, "We were able to resolve the content that we were satisfied with by coordinating the court. We would like to support basic research from a long-term perspective with the funds and donations returned from the company. Creating a research environment where young researchers can take on challenges throughout their lives is essential for the growth of the country. "