Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Biogen patent on interferon multiple sclerosis drug invalidated

A jury in the federal district court of New Jersey on 23 February 2018 found that U.S. Patent Number 7,588,755 (related to the MS drug Avonex) was invalid, getting Serono's product Rebif off the hook.

From Investors.com


The jury invalidated Biogen's patent, finding that prior knowledge existed of interferons as a treatment for a number of different medical conditions. Biogen had tried to argue that Pfizer and EMD Serono had infringed on two claims of the patent.

"As a result of this finding, there is effectively no patent to infringe and no royalty or settlement obligation payable by Serono to Biogen," [Leerink analyst Geoffrey ] Porges said. "Biogen was seeking multibillion-dollar damages on the basis of a claimed 8.5% royalty on future and prior sales, as well as damages."

(...)

Biogen declined to comment to Investor's Business Daily on the case. The biotech "will have to look hard at the cost of continuing this litigation to appeal, for what is a declining product and a trial with a low probability of legal success," Porges said.

Porges doesn't expect a flood of generic entrants to the class. Interferons are in decline, but still represent a $5.5 billion revenue category. The challenges of manufacturing, developing and commercializing a biosimilar version of interferon are significant.



link: https://www.investors.com/news/technology/biogens-multiple-sclerosis-drug-franchise-takes-another-hit/

Pfizer and EMD Serono have been selling Rebif.

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