⁍ A federal appeals court on Monday invalidated a Biogen Inc patent on the treatment of multiple sclerosis using a protein known as interferon-beta.
⁍ Merck & Co and Pfizer Inc jointly market the interferon-beta-based drug Rebif.
– A federal appeals court on Monday reinstated a jury verdict that a patent on a drug used to treat multiple sclerosis was invalid, a victory for Merck and Pfizer, which jointly market the drug Rebif. A federal appeals court on Monday invalidated a Biogen Inc patent on the treatment of multiple sclerosis using a protein known as interferon-beta, a victory for Merck & Co and Pfizer Inc, which jointly market the interferon-beta-based drug Rebif. Circuit Judge Richard Linn, writing for a unanimous panel, reinstated a jury verdict that the patent was invalid because prior art had already described the use of naturally occurring interferon-beta to treat the disease, Westlaw Today reports. Biogen’s patent described the use of interferon-beta created synthetically, using recombinant DNA, but Linn said that did not make the method patentable.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/ip-biogen/merck-pfizer-prevail-in-patent-fight-with-biogen-over-multiple-sclerosis-drug-idUSL1N2GP1OE