Following up on our previous coverage of Immunex’s patent infringement suit against Sanofi related to Immunex’s Dupixent® (dupilumab) biologic, Judge Otero recently denied Sanofi’s motion for summary judgement of invalidity based on indefiniteness of the claim terms “competes” and “binding affinity (Ka).” Sanofi criticized Immunex’s ’487 patent for failing to…
On August 22, 2018, Pfizer submitted a citizen petition to the Food and Drug Administration requesting “guidance clarifying appropriate sponsor communications about the nature and properties of biosimilar products.” Specifically, Pfizer petitioned FDA to clarify what constitutes a false and misleading communication with respect to the safety and effectiveness of biosimilars relative…
As we have previously covered, last month the court in Janssen v. Celltrion (D. Mass., J. Wolf) issued a memorandum opinion granting Celltrion’s motion for summary judgment of non-infringement of the sole remaining patent-in-suit, and the next day entered final judgment for Celltrion. The court subsequently entered an amended final judgment to dismiss without prejudice Celltrion’s…
As we previously reported, last September a District of Delaware jury issued a verdict that Hospira’s manufacture of 14 batches of drug substance in connection with its proposed biosimilar of Amgen’s Epogen® (epoetin alfa) was not protected activity under the § 271(e)(1) safe harbor and infringed Amgen’s ’298 patent, and…
As we reported here, Momenta is appealing a PTAB decision upholding the patentability of BMS’s U.S. Patent No. 8,476,239 (“the ’239 patent”), which relate to BMS’s Orencia® (abatacept) product. Momenta has not yet filed an aBLA for its abatacept biosimilar candidate, M834, so one of the key issues on appeal is whether Momenta has Article III standing…
As we previously reported, Sandoz appealed the PTAB’s decision not to institute an IPR regarding AbbVie’s U.S. Patent No. 9,512,216, which relates to a method for treating moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis using adalimumab. Last month, the Federal Circuit ordered Sandoz to show cause why the appeals should not be dismissed for lack…
As we previously reported, a panel of the Federal Circuit in St. Regis Mohawk Tribe v. Mylan held that “tribal immunity cannot be asserted in IPRs.” The Federal Circuit’s decision, if upheld, means that Allergan’s sale and license-back of patents covering its branded product Restasis to the Tribe was ineffective in shielding the…
In a letter to the Patent Public Advisory Committee last week, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Andrei Iancu proposed increasing the fees by “roughly 25%” for patent challenges under the America Invents Act, including inter partes review (IPR). The letter states that the proposed increase is in response to a “variety…
Guangzhou-based biopharmaceutical company Bio-Thera Solutions recently announced that the China National Drug Administration has accepted for review the BLA for BAT1406, a proposed Humira® (adalimumab) biosimilar. Bio-Thera states that the BAT1406 BLA contains clinical data from a pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) trial and a Phase III confirmatory safety and efficacy study in…
More than a dozen BPCIA patent litigations are currently pending in various U.S. district courts. Below are some highlights of activity in some of those cases from this month. Genentech v. Amgen (D. Del.): bevacizumab On August 2, 2018, Judge Sleet issued a memorandum in response to the parties’ ongoing…