Roche appeals Mircera injunction

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:59:56 -0400

Roche is appealing to a higher power on Mircera. The Swiss drugmaker is appealing a lower court ruling barring U.S. sales of the anemia med, claiming that Mircera doesn't infringe on Amgen's patents after all. Saying that a judge in federal court encouraged the appeal, Roche said it "maintains its position that all of Amgen's patents...asserted against Roche are invalid and not infringed."

Apparently, Roche got tired of waiting for Judge William Young to decide whether to let it sell Mircera in the States. You'll recall that, in giving Amgen its injunction against Mircera, Young said he might let the drug onto the market under certain conditions, including price controls and royalty payments. Roche agreed to the conditions, but Amgen balked--and so Young is appointing a special master to help sift through the technical issues.

Then--as now--Amgen simply said it thinks a permanent injunction against Mircera is the only correct answer. We'll see what the various judges decide.

- check out the item at Pharmalot

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