Schering Foresees Deal With Biogen, Not War

A spokesperson for Schering AG has reported that Schering does not plan to use its recently-awarded patents on beta interferon (Marketletter January 23) to block Biogen from introducing its version of the drug, but instead foresees some sort of "patent negotiation" between the companies.

The discussions surrounding the patent are focussed on the nature of the patents held. Biogen's main patent, awarded in Europe, covers a process for making beta interferon in unicellular organisms and so may cover Schering's method of production which utilizes bacteria. Biogen argues that this method also covers its production of the drug using Chinese hamster ovary cells, which Schering disputes, and is seeking a similar US patent. However, Schering's two main patents cover production in CHO cells, although it does not use this method.

The crux of the dispute is therefore in the definition of CHO cells as unicellular organisms or not. The ruling on this question is not academic as it is the hinge on domination of the beta interferon market, which could be worth up to $1 billion in annual revenues.