Amgen Awarded EPO Patent Judgement

Amgen has been awarded a summary injunction against Genetics Institute in the two companies' reopened erythropoietin (EPO) patent dispute in the USA. In the latest development, the District Court in Massachusetts has enforced the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's prior judgement against GI barring the company from asserting its '837 patent against Amgen's recombinant EPO product.

Amgen and its licensee Ortho Pharmaceuticals market recombinant EPO as Epogen in the USA for the treatment of kidney dialysis patients suffering from anemia associated with chronic renal failure. Sales of the drug in the USA and China were $721 million in 1994.

In March 1991, the Court of Appeals reversed a decision of the same Massachusetts court and held that GI's original '195 patent for EPO was invalid and unenforceable against Amgen. At that time, GI made a payment of $14 million to Amgen and the matter was considered settled. However, since then, in June 1994 the '837 patent was awarded to GI, which promptly sued Ortho and certain Ortho affiliates for patent infringement in the District Court of Delaware. In September 1994, Amgen sued GI seeking to declare the '837 patent invalid.