S-P looking for royalty refund from ICN

Schering-Plough has asked ICN Pharmaceuticals for an $11.9 millionrefund of royalties that it had paid to the latter under a marketing agreement for ribavarin, an ICN drug used by S-P in Rebetron, which comprises the company's hepatitis C treatment Intron A (interferon alfa-2b) with ribavirin.

S-P says it also believes royalties for the first quarter of 2001 and the fourth quarter of 2000 "should not include royalties of approximately $1.2 million and $1.8 million, respectively, on products distributed as part of an indigent patient marketing program," according to an ICN filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and reported by CBSMarketWatch.com.

ICN said in the filing that S-P has not provided the company with a contractual basis for the royalty dispute but rather is presenting arguments based on "primarily moral or humanitarian grounds." ICN added that its results of operations could be impacted, should S-P successfully implement the adjustment retroactively.