Ambrilia has settled with Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Limited and Merck & Co. (Merck) the arbitration pending before the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce that concerned their Exclusive License Agreement of October 12, 2006 and a November 14, 2003 Confidentiality Agreement (the Arbitration). The terms of the settlement provide for the termination of the License Agreement and the Confidentiality Agreement that were a subject of the arbitration, resulting in the return to Ambrilia of its HIV/AIDS protease inhibitor (PI) programme and licensed know how and technology.

This includes Ambrilia's lead compound, PPL-100, and related technology and compounds. The settlement agreement also provides for the payment by Merck to Ambrilia of an amount of US$2,000,000 within 10 business days of the settlement and a royalty for a period of 10 years from first commercial sale of a certain family of products, and the release of all claims made in the arbitration.

"With this settlement, the return of PPL-100 to Ambrilia strengthens our virology portfolio. We are now in a favourable situation to explore different strategic opportunities for our virology pipeline," said Dr Philippe Calais, president and CEO of Ambrilia.

Ambrilia Biopharma is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel treatments for viral diseases and cancer.