On February 21, 2019, Sandoz Inc. (“Sandoz”) filed suit against Amgen Inc. and Amgen Manufacturing Limited (collectively “Amgen”) seeking declaratory judgment of non-infringement and invalidity of Amgen’s U.S. Patent No. 9,643,997 (“the ʼ997 patent”). The ʼ997 patent is directed to methods of purifying a protein expressed in a non-native limited solubility form in a non-mammalian
Third Time’s a Charm? Amgen Files Another BPCIA Lawsuit Against Apotex
Earlier this month, Amgen initiated suit against Apotex in the Middle District of Florida, alleging infringement of U.S. Patent No. 9,856,287 (“the ’287 patent”). This is the third complaint that Amgen has brought against Apotex under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (the “BPCIA”), based on Apotex’s abbreviated biologic license applications (“aBLAs”) for biosimilars…
U.S. FDA Approves First Biosimilar to Neulasta
Earlier this month, the U.S. FDA announced approval of Mylan’s Fulphila biosimilar to Neulasta® (pegfilgrastim). Neulasta® was developed by Amgen and first approved in the U.S. and Europe in 2002. Following the approval announced on June 4, 2018, Fulphila, which was co-developed with Biocon, becomes the first biosimilar to pegfilgrastim approved in the U.S.
The…
Litigation Spotlight: The Adello Filgrastim (Neupogen®) Litigation
On March 8, 2018, Amgen Inc. (“Amgen”) filed suit against Adello Biologics, LLC (“Adello”) in the District of New Jersey, alleging infringement of seventeen patents: U.S. Patent Nos. 6,180,391; 7,083,948; 7,118,884; 7,384,765; 7,427,659; 7,662,930; 7,735,525; 7,781,395; 8,191,566; 8,273,707; 8,940,878; 8,952,138; 9,418,416; 9,632,095; 9,643,997; 9,704,239; and 9,856,287. The case is assigned to Judge Claire C. Cecchi…
Lilly Announces Positive Results for Galcanezumab in Treating Episodic Cluster Headaches
Last week, Eli Lilly and Company (“Lilly”) announced that galcanezumab met its primary endpoint in a Phase 3 study of patients with episodic cluster headaches. Lilly previously announced that galcanezumab met its primary endpoints in three different Phase 3 studies evaluating its effectiveness in preventing episodic and chronic migraine.
The episodic cluster headache study was…
Novartis and Amgen Announce FDA Approval of Aimovig™
Last week, Novartis and Amgen announced the FDA approved Aimovig™ (erenumab) for the preventive treatment of migraine in adults. The FDA granted approval to Amgen; however, Amgen and Novartis have entered into a global collaboration to develop and commercialize treatments in the field of migraine. As part of this agreement, the two companies will co-commercialize…
Litigation Spotlight Update: Epogen® Litigation Status in Face of Retacrit Regulatory Approval
As we recently covered, May 15, 2018, saw the FDA granting approval to Hospira (now a Pfizer subsidiary) for its Retacrit injection, a biosimilar to Amgen’s Epogen®. The approval, based on a Biologics License Application dated December 16, 2014, came after Hospira resubmitted its application twice after receiving Complete Response Letters from the FDA,…
FDA Approves Retacrit as a Biosimilar to Epogen®
Today, the FDA announced that it approved Retacrit (epoetin alfa-epbx) as a biosimilar to Epogen® for the treatment of anemia caused by chronic kidney disease, chemotherapy, or use of zidovudine in patients with HIV infection. The FDA also approved Retacrit for use before and after surgery to reduce the chance that red blood cell transfusions…
Final Judgment Entered in Amgen v. Coherus Neulasta Litigation
Last week, on April 18, 2018, Judge Stark in the District of Delaware entered the Final Judgment and Order dismissing the patent infringement case brought by Amgen Inc. and Amgen Manufacturing, Limited (collectively “Amgen”) against Coherus Biosciences, Inc. (“Coherus”). Judge Stark previously issued a Memorandum Order on March 26, 2018, adopting Magistrate Judge Burke’s Report…
A Rare Successful Challenge of a Patent for a Method of Manufacturing Biologic Drugs
Biologic drugs are large molecules, such as therapeutic proteins, DNA vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and fusion proteins, that are typically derived from living cells and used in the treatment, diagnosis, or prevention of disease. Most biologics are produced by genetically engineering living cells to express the therapeutic proteins rather than through traditional chemical synthesis. As proteins…