Medeva Wins UK Hep B Vaccine Appeal

UK pharmaceutical company Medeva has had a judgement by the UK Court of Appeal relating to its hepatitis vaccine go in its favor. The court ruled that the patent held by Biogen is invalid in the UK. The court had previously ruled that Medeva had infringed the Biogen patent.

The reversal of the decision by the appeal court follows the European Patent Office's decision back in the summer (Marketletters August 1 & 8) to uphold Biogen's hepatitis B patent and let member countries determine its validity on an individual basis.

"We are delighted with this outcome. It vindicates our belief that Biogen's patent could not prevent us from developing our hepatitis B vaccine," said Bill Bogie, Medeva's chief executive. He continued: "we believe our vaccine is a clinically superior product and that this will be clearly established by clinical trials which are currently underway in the UK. We would expect to file for registration in the UK in 1996."