BOSTON—A federal judge on Oct. 2 upheld a prior jury verdict reaffirming Amgen’s anemia drug patents and ruled that rival Roche should be barred from selling its anemia drug Mircera in the United States, according to a news release.
In October 2007, 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. In the Oct. 2 ruling Judge William Young said Amgen is entitled to a permanent injunction.
“Failure to enter a permanent injunction ... would risk undermining the incentives for innovation that have produced, and hopefully will continue to produce, medical advances that extend and enhance the value of life,” the court wrote in the 150-page ruling. “The court therefore concludes that the public interest will not be disserved by a permanent injunction.”
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.
Roche still has an appeal on the table in regards Young’s ruling on a preliminary injunction and has a hearing scheduled Oct. 8 in Washington with the U.S. Court of Appeals. Young’s most recent ruling, however, could make it harder for Roche to win in the long run. The Roche told Dow Jones Newswires that it is “assessing” the Oct. 2 federal court ruling.
“Amgen is pleased with today’s ruling, which recognizes that Amgen is entitled to a permanent injunction against Roche and reaffirms the infringement and validity of our patents,” David Scott, Amgen’s senior vice president and general counsel, said in a statement.
