After hearing that the Kano state government in Nigeria walked away from out-of-court talks over the Trovan scandal, the drugmaker issued a statement calling the move “unfortunate,” and vowed not to be intimidated, Agence France Presse reports.

“While the comments by Kano officials are most unfortunate, they do not diminish Pfizer’s commitment to dialogue, conducive to resolving its differences with the Nigerian and (Kano) state governments,” Pfizer said in a statement that was distributed in Nigeria. “We believe that efforts to try these cases in the media or intimidate the company and the courts are an impediment to that process…the company’s requests for details regarding study participants that the government alleges suffered physical injury as a result of the trial have gone unanswered.”

Of course, the failure to resolve this mess may also make it more likely that Nigerian officials will proceed with plans to have Interpol pursue Bill Steere, a Pfizer director and former ceo, and nine other Pfizer employees to face criminal charges. The threat was issued two months ago if these individuals fail to appear in court. And anything but a settlement - or depositions behind closed doors - would make for quite a photo op.

At issue are charges that Pfizer illegally conducted an unauthorized Trovan trial on about 200 children at a government hospital during a triple epidemic of measles, cholera and meningitis in which 12,000 people died. The episode led to the death of 11 children and various deformities - including deafness, blindness, paralysis and brain damage - in 189 others. Pfizer denies doing anything illegal and insists government permission was granted.

The Nigerian federal government is seeking $7 billion in damages and the Kano state government is seeking another $2 billion in addition to the criminal charges. Authorities in Kano blame the episode for widespread suspicion of government public health policies, helping fuel a drive by local Islamic leaders who briefly halted polio vaccination efforts in northern Nigeria, causing related infections in other countries where polio had been all-but eradicated.