Medeva And Biogen Await Patent Ruling

UK pharmaceutical manufacturer Medeva and US company Biogen are both awaiting the outcome of a patent ruling by the European Patent Office concerning hepatitis B vaccine, which will be of great significance to both companies.

As the Marketletter went to press, the European Patent Office started to consider a number of issues associated with the Biogen patent that were revoked in a decision several years ago in Medeva's favor, a Biogen spokesperson told the Marketletter last week. Biogen is claiming that Medeva has infringed its hepatitis B vaccine patent. Medeva is believed to be confident that the appeals will be thrown out, but a ruling against the company could hold Medeva back.

The company is now getting over the problems it experienced last year in the USA (Marketletters passim), which resulted in it issuing a profits warning and its share price plunging. The market for the hepatitis product is worth around L400 million ($612.5 million) and Medeva needs this to prove it can grow by acquiring products that are not fully developed.