Liquidia Corporation agrees to US$380.7M litigation settlement
PAH sales continue, PH-ILD promotion ends and cash payments run into April 2027; Liquidia expects to fund them without new financing.
Adrian Kessler
A US$380.7 million settlement preserves YUTREPIA sales for pulmonary arterial hypertension as Liquidia Corporation NASDAQLQDA announced an agreement on Tuesday resolving six lawsuits.
The agreement with United Therapeutics Corporation NASDAQUTHR includes mutual releases without an admission of liability. Liquidia has submitted a supplement to remove pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease, or PH-ILD, from YUTREPIA's label and no longer promotes that use. Cash payments extend through April 2027.
Liquidia is a U.S. biopharmaceutical company commercializing inhaled treprostinil and developing therapies for respiratory and vascular diseases.
Liquidia shares NASDAQLQDA closed at US$26.81 on Nasdaq at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Oct. 13. The regular-session figure does not capture after-hours trading.
Settlement Payments Extend Into April 2027
The Oct. 13 announcement sets a net US$175 million payment to United Therapeutics within 30 business days. Two further payments of US$72.7 million each are due on or before Jan. 31 and April 30, 2027.
The initial net amount includes an antitrust payment from United Therapeutics to Liquidia involving Treprostinil Injection. The release does not separately identify the amount of that incoming payment.
Liquidia will also pay US$60.3 million in October 2026 to parties with interests in that antitrust litigation, satisfying their interests in full. It has terminated the promotional agreement for Treprostinil Injection and will no longer commercially support that product.
Those obligations bring the total disclosed net payments to US$380.7 million across 2026 and 2027. The announcement discloses no ongoing royalty or licensing payment; the full settlement agreement was not reviewed.
Preliminary, unaudited third-quarter figures in the Oct. 13 release showed YUTREPIA net product sales of US$222.7 million. Cash and cash equivalents stood at US$396.1 million on Sept. 30, giving shareholders a funding snapshot before the settlement payments begin.
"We expect to rebuild our cash position and fund our planned clinical studies without requiring additional financing," Liquidia chief operating officer and chief financial officer Michael Kaseta said in the release.
That funding expectation depends on continued YUTREPIA sales alongside cash on hand, according to Liquidia. The company plans to continue its previously outlined YUTREPIA and L606 clinical programmes.
PAH Competition Continues After the Settlement
Liquidia agreed not to appeal the Sept. 30 Delaware ruling that claims 1 and 14 of the disputed patent were valid and infringed. Its release says the parties will file stipulations dismissing the six cases with prejudice as between United Therapeutics and Liquidia after Liquidia's initial payment.
The dispute concerns U.S. Patent No. 11,826,327. United Therapeutics said in its Sept. 30 release that the patent covers a method of improving exercise capacity in PH-ILD patients through inhaled treprostinil at specified doses.
Read more: United Therapeutics Corporation wins Yutrepia PH-ILD patent ruling
United Therapeutics' Tyvaso inhalation solution and Tyvaso DPI are approved for both PAH and PH-ILD, according to that release. The settlement therefore preserves Liquidia's PAH business while it relinquishes promotion in the other indication.
Liquidia estimates in its Oct. 13 announcement that 45,000 patients are diagnosed and treated for PAH in the United States. The disease involves narrowing pulmonary arteries and can lead to right heart failure; its treatment market remains distinct from medicines directed at lung scarring itself.
Bristol Myers Squibb NYSEBMY reported on Oct. 12 that 60 mg admilparant met its Phase 3 lung-function endpoint against placebo in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. That programme tests preservation of forced vital capacity in a fibrotic lung disease.
Read more: Bristol Myers Squibb reports admilparant trial success as higher dose misses
Liquidia plans a broader financial and pipeline update on its third-quarter earnings call in November 2026.
