Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Amgen "shutout" Roche in blood feud

Back story here.

Amgen won a decisive victory yesterday in a closely watched patent infringement lawsuit against Roche.

The outcome could help protect Amgen’s multibillion dollar anemia drug franchise in this country by blocking Roche’s plan to introduce a competing medicine.

A jury in Federal District Court in Boston ruled that Roche’s new drug, Mircera, infringed on three Amgen patents and upheld the validity of those patents and two others.

Amgen said it was pleased with the verdict and would seek an injunction to prevent Roche from releasing Mircera in the United States. The presiding judge, William G. Young, will hold a hearing on Nov. 15 to consider the injunction.

Roche, which is based in Switzerland, said in a statement that it was considering all its legal options, including an appeal.

The decision is a reprieve for Amgen, which is already facing declining sales of its anemia drugs because of safety concerns and a resulting cutback in reimbursement by Medicare. Shares of Amgen rose $1.58, or 3 percent, to close at $57.70.

“This wasn’t just a victory, it was a shutout,” said Mark Schoenebaum, the biotechnology analyst at Bear Stearns, referring to the verdict. He said it would be difficult for Roche to win on appeal. Mr. Schoenebaum said Amgen’s anemia business was still likely to decline sharply in the coming years because of the Medicare cutback. But he said that there were now probably no more “landmines” that could hurt the stock.

More at the NYT

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