Finch wins US jury trial against Ferring over fecal-transplant patents

Finch Therapeutics

09/08/2024 23:19

By Blake Brittain
       Aug 9 (Reuters) - A federal jury in Delaware said on
Friday that Swiss biopharmaceutical company Ferring
Pharmaceuticals infringed patents for fecal transplant
technology belonging to Finch Therapeutics  FNCH.PK  and the
University of Minnesota and should pay $25 million in damages
and future royalties.
    The jury agreed with Finch that Ferring's fecal-transplant
therapy Rebyota infringes patents covering related inventions
that Finch licensed from the university.
    A spokesperson for Ferring said that the company was
disappointed with the verdict and "considering next steps."
Spokespeople for Finch did not immediately respond to a request
for comment on the verdict.
    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Rebyota in
2022 as the first therapy of its kind to treat C. difficile
infections, which can cause life-threatening diarrhea. Ferring
sued Finch in 2021, seeking a judgment that Rebyota did not
violate patents related to a C. difficile therapy that Finch was
developing based on the university's patents.
    Boston, Massachusetts-based Finch and the university
countered with patent infringement claims against Ferring. Finch
discontinued work on its C. difficile treatment last year,
announcing at the same time that it would lay off 95 percent of
its staff.
    Ferring argued in the case that its technology worked
differently than Finch's and that the three patents at issue in
the trial were invalid.
    
    The case is Finch Therapeutics Group Inc v. Ferring
Pharmaceuticals Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of
Delaware, No. 1:21-cv-01694.
    For Ferring: Daralyn Durie, Matthew Chivvis and Whitney
O'Byrne of Morrison & Foerster
    For Finch: Michael De Vries, Ingrid Petersen, Sharre
Lotfollahi, Adam Alper, Patricia Carson, Ashley Ross and Leslie
Schmidt of Kirkland & Ellis

 (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)
 ((blake.brittain@tr.com;))