Amgen has announced that the District Court in Boston has upheld  the
court rulings regarding the infringement, validity and enforceability of 10 claims of four of Amgen’s erythropoietin (EPO) patents.

The district court also ruled that Amgen is entitled to a permanent injunction prohibiting Roche from selling its pegylated-erythropoietin (peg-EPO) product MIRCERA in the U.SA.

Previously, the Court gave a preliminary injunction preventing Roche from selling peg-EPO, which Roche had appealed.  The latest decision provides a permanent injunction once the appeal of the preliminary injunction is resolved.
The Court stated: “Failure to enter a permanent injunction…would risk undermining the incentives for innovation that have produced, and hopefully will continue to produce, medical advances that extend and enhance the value of life. The Court  therefore concludes that the public interest will not be disserved by a permanent injunction.”

 In a separate decision involving Amgen’s suit against TKT and Aventis, the District Court upheld the validity of claim 1 of Amgen’s U.S. Patent No. 5,955,422 that claims pharmaceutical compositions of human EPO and entered a permanent injunction  prohibiting TKT and Aventis from selling its gene-activated EPO in the U.S.

Amgen discovers, develops, manufactures and delivers innovative human therapeutics. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen was one of the first companies to realize the new science’s promise by bringing safe and effective medicines from lab, to manufacturing
plant, to patient. Amgen therapeutics have changed the practice of medicine, helping millions of people around the world in the fight against cancer, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis and other serious illnesses.