UK's top court rules against Amgen in patent case
LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Britain's highest court has ruled against Amgen Inc. (AMGN.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , the world's largest biotechnology company, in a long-running patent dispute with Transkaryotic Therapies Inc. (TKTX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Sanofi-Aventis SA (SASY.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) .
The House of Lords on Thursday revoked Amgen's patent after deciding it was not entitled to a monopoly on blockbuster anaemia drug Epogen.
The decision runs contrary to a judgment last week in the United States. On Oct. 15, the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts ruled for Amgen in a similar case in the United States.
Amgen's Epogen -- a genetically engineered form of the naturally occurring protein called erythropoietin (EPO) that boosts the body's production of red blood cells -- is manufactured by inserting a human gene into hamster cells.
Transkaryotic and Sanofi-Aventis, which have developed a version of the same protein called Dynepo, had argued that because their drug is produced using human cells, it does not infringe the Amgen patents.
Lord Hoffman, giving judgment on the case in the House of Lords, agreed.
"Standing back from the detail, it is clear that Amgen have got themselves into difficulties because, having invented a perfectly good and ground-breaking process for making EPO and its analogues, they were determined to try to patent the protein itself, not withstanding that, even when isolated, it was not new," he said.
Amgen's worldwide sales of Epogen, used to treat patients undergoing kidney dialysis, totalled $2.4 billion last year.
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