OGN - Organon Microspherix make headway on Nexplanon patents dispute

putilich/iStock via Getty Images Organon (OGN) and Merck (MRK) have dropped a case against Microspherix that sought a covenant not to sue from Microspherix. Microspherix and Merck have been embroiled for years in legal proceedings over Merck's (and now Organon's) birth control implant Nexplanon, which Microspherix says infringes several of its patents. Microspherix granted a covenant for one of the patents, but it's not clear if covenants have been granted for other patents at issue. Evercore ISI analyst Umer Raffat points out that in a recent Organon 10Q, the company said it cut their legal defense reserves to $30M in March, down from $35M in December 2020. Raffat adds that this decrease suggests Organon's increasing confidence on this matter and  "an an increasing alignment with Microspherix." Organon shares are up 0.1% to $29.81 and Merck shares are up 1.9% to $77.84 in afternoon trading.

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Organon, Microspherix make headway on Nexplanon patents dispute