Bayer 'determined' to guard rights after Humira ruling
Bayer AG said it's “determined to enforce intellectual property” after losing a bid to demand royalties from Abbott Laboratories over U.S. sales of the arthritis drug Humira.
Europe's largest drug and chemical maker, which sued Abbott in 2008 for violating its intellectual-property rights, conceded in a court filing yesterday that Humira doesn't infringe its patent under an interpretation by a judge in the case. Bayer's lawsuit can be revived if an appeals court overturns the judge's definition of the phrase “human monoclonal antibodies.”
Bayer claimed the arthritis drug violates a patent for antibodies against tumor necrosis factor, or TNF, an immune cell protein that is linked to inflammation. The Leverkusen, Germany- based company demanded royalties on sales of Humira, which generated $4.67 billion in revenue for Abbott Park, Illinois- based Abbott in the first nine months of 2010.
“This is a procedural step in order to allow a quick appeal of the earlier decision,” a Bayer spokesman, Oliver Renner, said in an e-mailed statement today. “We are determined to enforce our intellectual property against any infringement once the earlier decision is overturned on appeal.”
U.S. District Judge Dennis Saylor in Worcester, Massachusetts, ruled in October that Bayer's patent covered only antibodies that have low affinity, referring to the strength of the antibody's attachment to TNF, and that don't neutralize the protein. Both sides agreed that wouldn't cover Humira.
“We are confident that the appellate court will uphold the lower court's interpretation of Bayer's patent, under which Humira does not infringe,” said Adelle Infante, an Abbott spokeswoman.
Libertyville Township-based Abbott is appealing a separate Humira patent-infringement case it lost to Johnson & Johnson that resulted in a $1.67 billion verdict. The company in 2009 settled a royalty dispute with the University of Iowa for undisclosed terms.
The case is Abbott Laboratories v. Bayer Healthcare LLC, 09cv40002, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (Worcester).