Amgen Wins Injunction in Mircera Case

A federal court granted Amgen a permanent injunction prohibiting Roche Holding AG from selling its Mircera anemia treatment in the U.S., as well as upheld a jury verdict regarding certain patent-infringement claims.
   
Mircera is currently available in Europe and the FDA has approved the drug, but the legal dispute prevented its sale. The drug, if released in the U.S., would compete directly with Amgen’s anemia drugs Aranesp and Epogen, which accounted for more than 40% of its revenue in 2007.  
   
In March, a Massachusetts district county judge pushed back his decision on whether to grant Amgen the permanent injunction, asking a third party to compare dosing and pricing of the companies’ products. A jury had found last October that Roche’s Mircera infringes 11 of Amgen’s patents protecting Epogen.
   
“Amgen is pleased with today’s ruling, which recognizes that Amgen is entitled to a permanent injunction against Roche and reaffirms the infringement and validity of our patents,” general counsel David Scott said in a statement.