ZymoGenetics wins a round in legal fight with King Pharmaceuticals

A federal judge in Tennessee has denied King Pharmaceuticals' requests for a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit against ZymoGenetics, the Seattle company said Thursday.

ZymoGenetics said a judge in Greeneville, Tenn., refused to issue preliminary injunctions "with respect to certain comparative advertising claims, use of King trademarks as Google ad words, and certain alleged statements regarding the existence of lawsuits against King."

The legal wrangle, which started last month, centers on efforts to market the blood-clotting compound Recothrom, ZymoGenetics' only product. It competes with a more established drug from King that is derived from cow blood.

ZymoGenetics has argued that Recothrom, a genetically engineered product that is not obtained from animal blood, is safer for patients than King's product. King claims there is no scientific basis for that argument.

King obtained a temporary restraining order against some of ZymoGenetics' marketing tactics when it filed a suit Nov. 2, but that order was quickly rescinded. ZymoGenetics said it has filed a counterclaim.

"We currently believe that this litigation will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, our results of operation, or our cash flows," the company said in a regulatory filing Thursday. But it added that "the actual cost and the distraction from the conduct of our business, as well as the ultimate outcome, will depend upon many unknown factors and our view of these may change in the future."