On November 13, 2019, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “Board”) issued a written decision in the inter partes review (“IPR”) action that was brought by Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals Ireland Limited (“Mallinckrodt”) against BioVie Inc. (“BioVie” or “Company”). In that action, Mallinckrodt sought to invalidate BioVie’s patent (U.S. Pat. No. 9,655,945, “Treatment of Ascites”) (the “’945 Patent”). In its decision, the Board determined that all claims of the ‘945 Patent were not patentable because they were either anticipated or obvious in light of prior art. The Board also denied BioVie’s Motion to Amend the claims on similar grounds. The result of the Board’s decision is that the ‘945 patent is no longer valid or enforceable. Acuitas Group Holdings, LLC was aware of this patent challenge when it purchased a majority ownership interest in the company in July 2018.
BioVie is evaluating the Board’s decision to determine if it will request a rehearing by the Board or appeal the Board’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. This ruling is unrelated to the Company’s Orphan drug designations for ascites and hepatorenal syndrome (“HRS”), which remain unchanged. An Orphan drug that is first-to-market typically receives 7 years of market exclusivity in the United States for the designated use(s). In addition, the ruling does not affect the Company’s rights in its pending patent application directed to proprietary liquid formulations of terlipressin for use in its planned Phase 2b/3 trial, subject to FDA clearance, which could eventually provide up to 20 years of patent coverage in each country in which the Company seeks patent protection, such as the United States, if a patent issues on the pending application according to the patent laws of each issuing country.
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