Roche settles US patent lawsuit against Biogen over blockbuster arthritis drug

Chugai Pharmaceutical

23/10/2023 20:25

By Blake Brittain
       Oct 23 (Reuters) - Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche
 ROG.S  has settled a patent lawsuit against U.S. biotech firm
Biogen  BIIB.O  over its biosimilar version of Roche's
blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Actemra, according to a
filing on Monday in Massachusetts federal court.
    Roche and its subsidiaries Genentech and Chugai
Pharmaceutical  4519.T  jointly told the court without providing
further details that they, Biogen and its manufacturer Bio-Thera
 688177.SS  had agreed to settle the case. 
    A spokesperson for Genentech declined to comment.
Representatives for Biogen and Bio-Thera did not immediately
respond to requests for comment.
    Biosimilars are versions of biologic drugs that are
comparable to generics of traditional small-molecule drugs.
Unlike traditional drugs, complex biologic drugs are made from
living cells and cannot be copied exactly.
    Roche reported that it earned more than 2.7 billion Swiss
francs - more than $3 billion based on current exchange rates -
from worldwide sales of its biologic Actemra last year. Actemra
sales were down 22% from 2021 based on decreased demand for the
drug as a COVID-19 treatment.
    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month approved
Biogen's Tofidence, the first approved biosimilar to Actemra.
Roche's lawsuit, filed in July, said the biosimilar would
infringe several patents related to the manufacture and use of
its biologic drug.
    Biogen and Bio-Thera did not respond to the allegations in
court.
    

 (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington
Editing by David Bario and Will Dunham)
 ((blake.brittain@tr.com; +1 (202) 938-5713;))