DNAprint Genomics (DNAG)

[stakddek]

Stock Rookie: Is this the story you refer to?

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http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzdrug4303311jun14,0,6170592.story?coll=ny-business-headlines

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Patents can't restrict drug research
Supreme Court rules proprietary compounds can be used as long as medicines aren't sold before patents expire

BY KATHLEEN KERR
STAFF WRITER; The Associated Press contributed to this story.

June 14, 2005

Pharmaceutical businesses researching new medical treatments do not have to pay royalties to use patented inventions developed by other companies in their work, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday.

The court's unanimous ruling means drug and biotech companies may use patented compounds to research new products, providing they do not bring them to market before the patents expire.

The court's decision benefits large pharmaceutical and biotech companies by freeing them to use the patented work of smaller business without paying for it.

In the decision written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the court said federal law "provides a wide berth for the use of patented drugs in activities related to the federal regulatory process."

The court set aside a $6.37-million lower court jury verdict against Merck KGaA, a German drug manufacturer. The company is not related to the U.S. company Merck & Co. based in Whitehouse Station, N.J.

Merck used certain molecules patented by Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corp., headquartered in Plainsboro, N.J., to develop a cancer drug - now being tested on humans in clinical trials - that may cut off blood flow to tumors. The molecules patented by Integra contain an amino acid sequence that might accomplish that.

Integra objected to Merck's use of its compound, arguing it was patented until 2006, and sued for patent infringement. Integra officials did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

"I think the headline for us is this was a grand slam home run for the pharmaceutical industry and for patients," E. Joshua Rosenkranz, the lead attorney for Merck, said yesterday. "The court made it clear there's latitude for drug companies to do the sort of research they need to do to bring promising therapies to needy patients."

Rosenkranz pointed to a 1984 federal law that allows pharmaceutical companies to get a head start on drug research by using patented inventions - when such work is aimed at obtaining Food and Drug Administration approval and does not result in product sales until a patent expires.

"It's a big win," said Sarah Lock, a senior attorney for AARP, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of Americans 50 and older. "With rising prescription drug costs, consumers are feeling pinched. Consumers are going to end up saving money."

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had ruled in 2004 that the 1984 exemption from patent law did not apply to exploratory research on animals, which is what Merck was doing when Integra sued.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.


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I don't know if I would extrapolate this decision to DNAP, and if it is a matter of patent expiry, we hae no worry about expirations as of yet. Of course Merck or other pharma giants just love to stand on the shoulders of others, even if it means grinding thier face into the sand. But then, they are doing it for the patients. Right?

Stakddek