Drug companies avoid legal battle

Prostrakan 'pleased' dispute has been settled

Drugs firm ProStrakan has paid nearly £8m for a tax bill to Aventis Pharma to avoid a legal battle for the firms.

The dispute arose after ProStrakan bought a drug discovery subsidiary from Aventis in 2004 and then sold it on two years later to a Belgian company.

This triggered a possible tax liability for Aventis and the two companies have been in dispute about the bill.

With the dispute settled, ProStrakan said it remained focused on breaking even before the end of 2009.