Jury awards Ariad $65M damages in patent dispute with Lilly

A jury in the US District Court of Massachusetts in Boston has issued an initial decision in the case of Ariad Pharmaceuticals et al versus drug major Eli Lilly. The federal jury's verdict is that US patent no 6,410,516, owned by Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Whitehead Institute and licensed to Ariad, is valid and infringed by Lilly's sale of Evista (raloxifene HCl) and Xigris (drotrecogin alfa). The jury awarded the plaintiffs approximately $65.0 million in back royalties and a 2.3% royalty on future US sales of Evista and Xigris until the patent's expiration in 2019.

Lilly will appeal the decision

Lilly will seek to have the jury verdict overturned by the trial court judge and, if unsuccessful, will appeal the decision to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In addition, a separate bench trial with the US District Court of Massachusetts will be held on Lilly's contention that the patent is unenforceable.