For Immediate Release

Company name: DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, LIMITED
Representative: Sunao Manabe, Representative Director, President and COO
(Code no.: 4568, First Section, Tokyo Stock Exchange)
Please address inquiries to Koji Ogawa, Corporate Officer,
Vice President, Corporate Communications Department
Telephone: +81-3-6225-1126
http://www.daiichisankyo.com

Daiichi Sankyo’s U.S. Products Liability Litigation Settlement Program Moves Forward; More than 97 Percent of Eligible Litigants and Claimants Opt In (Update on previously disclosed item)

Tokyo, Japan and Basking Ridge, NJ – June 6, 2018: Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited and Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. announced today that more than 97 percent of eligible claimants have opted into the product liability litigation settlement program announced on March 30, 2018 for cases brought against various Daiichi Sankyo and Forest entities. These cases are related to olmesartan products (Benicar, Benicar HCT, Azor and Tribenzor) and allegations that such products caused sprue-like enteropathy and other severe gastro-intestinal symptoms.

                                                               

The settlement program required, among other thresholds, that at least 97 percent of all eligible litigants and claimants decided to opt into the settlement and completed the required submissions. Now that this and other thresholds have been met, following a review by the Claims Administrator as set out in the settlement agreement, claimants who meet the specified criteria will receive payouts from the settlement fund, which is capped at $358 million. The amount of any payment to any claimant will be determined by a settlement matrix that takes injury level and other factors into account.

 

The impact to the financial position of the company is not considered material because the settlement fund is expected to be comprised primarily of proceeds from several of Daiichi Sankyo Group companies’ insurance policies and supplemented with company funds to satisfy retentions.

 

Daiichi Sankyo takes all matters of patient safety seriously and remains firmly committed to our medications that contain olmesartan medoxomil. The company believes that this settlement program is in the best interest of all parties and allows the company to focus on bringing to market innovative medicines that help people live healthy and meaningful lives. Daiichi Sankyo continues to believe that the claims made in this litigation are without merit, and does not admit liability. 

 

Olmesartan medoxomil is an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) approved for the treatment of high blood pressure, alone or with other antihypertensive agents, and is one of eight marketed ARB drugs. The olmesartan medoxomil family of products used for the treatment of hypertension has a well-established safety profile with more than 53 million patient-years of use worldwide since 2002.