Subject: Vestar Shares Plunge On Liposome Charge Of Patent Violation 
Date: Published: 6/24/92 (55 lines)
Source: Wall Street Journal. Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc.

    Vestar Shares Plunge
    On Liposome Charge
    Of Patent Violation
    ----
    A Wall Street Journal News Roundup

    The share price of Vestar Inc. fell 10% after rival
 pharmaceutical concern Liposome Co. charged that Vestar's
 sole commercial product, an antifungal drug called AmBisome,
 infringes a Liposome patent.
    Vestar shares were quoted at $11.25, off $1.25, while
 Liposome shares were quoted at $8.75, up 12.5 cents, in
 national over-the-counter trading.
    In a lawsuit filed yesterday in federal court in
 Wilmington, Del., Liposome alleged that Vestar's infringement
 is "willful and deliberate."  The suit seeks unspecified
 "profits" and triple damages.
    "We have never for one moment thought we were infringing"
 their patent, Roger J. Crossley, Vestar's president and chief
 executive officer, said in an interview.  "We're kind of
 pleased to get this out in the open."
    Vestar, San Dimas, Calif., had previously disclosed the
 dispute and cautioned that litigation could damage the
 company.  "In the event that any such claim is successful, the
 company's results of operations could be materially adversely
 affected.  Moreover, the cost of litigating such a claim would
 be substantial," Vestar said in a stock offering prospectus
 dated Feb. 6.
    AmBisome, a treatment for cancer, AIDS, and other patients
 with damaged immune systems, is an antifungal drug
 encapsulated in submicroscopic spheres called liposomes.  The
 liposomes fuse with and kill the fungus while protecting the
 patient from the drug's toxicity.  AmBisome is sold in about
 16 European countries and accounts for about 90% of Vestar's
 revenue.
    Last year, Vestar reported a net loss of $827,000, or 15
 cents a share, on revenue of $15.9 million.  In the first
 quarter, the company had income of $926,000, or six cents a
 share, on revenue of $6.6 million.
    Liposome, a pharmaceutical concern based in Princeton,
 N. J., is developing a number of drugs, including some using
 liposome technology.  Liposome purchased a key patent covering
 "the dehydration of colloidal dispersions of liposomes" from
 the Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio, a
 spokeswoman said.  Vestar said its patent is licensed from the
 University of California.

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