THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.—In what could be the death knell for Roche’s chances to break into the U.S. anemia market, a federal court of appeals upheld a preliminary injunction that effectively bars the sale of Mircera in the United States, according to Amgen.
This week’s ruling was based on an appeal from Roche in regards to a decision in October 2007 when a jury ruled that Roche’s anemia drug infringes on Amgen’s existing patents. As a result, the U.S. Federal District Court in Boston issued a preliminary injunction barring Roche from selling Mircera in the United States.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s ruling this week affirmed the 2007 ruling.
Amgen filed a lawsuit in November 2005 in the U.S. District Court of Boston to stop Swiss drugmaker Roche from making or importing Mircera into the United States. Amgen has said that Mircera violates six U.S. EPO related to Amgen’s anemia drugs Epogen and Aranesp.
On Oct. 2, a federal judge upheld a prior jury verdict reaffirming Amgen’s anemia drug patents and ruled that rival Roche should be permanently barred from selling its anemia drug Mircera in the United States.
