Serono Joins US Interferon Litigation

Ares-Serono's US subsidiary, Serono Laboratories, has filed suit againstBerlex Laboratories in a bid to invalidate the latter's patent for recombinant interferon beta, the active principle in Berlex' Betaseron treatment for multiple sclerosis.

Serono is seeking to invalidate Berlex' US patent, No 5,376,567 (also known as the McCormick patent), which covers the expression of interferons in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Serono is seeking to establish that its own interferon beta-1a product, Rebif, which is nearing the market, does not infringe the patent. Rebif has been granted orphan drug status in the USA for the treatment of secondary progressive MS.