AstraZeneca gets $107 mln Pfizer verdict overturned in US cancer drug patent fight

Puma Biotechnology

14/08/2024 19:45

By Blake Brittain
       Aug 14 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca  AZN.L  on Wednesday
convinced a federal judge in Delaware to throw out a jury's
decision that the company owes $107.5 million for infringing
cancer-drug patents belonging to Pfizer  PFE.N  subsidiary
Wyeth.
    U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly determined that the two
patents Pfizer accused AstraZeneca of infringing with its
blockbuster lung-cancer drug Tagrisso were invalid.
    Spokespeople for Pfizer and AstraZeneca did not immediately
respond to requests for comment on the decision.
    New York-based Pfizer, which acquired Wyeth in 2009, sued
AstraZeneca in 2021. It said that AstraZeneca's Tagrisso
infringed patents related to the breast-cancer drug Nerlynx,
which Puma Biotechnology  PBYI.O  makes with a license to
Pfizer's patents.
    Tagrisso earned UK-based AstraZeneca nearly $5.8 billion in
revenue last year, according to a company report. 
    A jury agreed with Pfizer in May and awarded the company
$107.5 million in damages. Kennelly ruled for AstraZeneca on
Wednesday, finding that the verdict could not stand because the
patents lacked valid written descriptions of their inventions
and would not enable an ordinary scientist in the field to
recreate them.
    
    The case is Wyeth LLC v. AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP,
U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No.
1:21-cv-01338.
    For Pfizer: Anthony Insogna, Gasper LaRosa, Jason
Winchester, Bethany Biesenthal, John Michalik, Alexis Smith and
Jennifer Swize of Jones Day; Sara Horton and Ren-How Harn of
Willkie Farr & Gallagher
    For AstraZeneca: Christopher Sipes, Einar Stole and Megan
Keane of Covington & Burling
    
    Read more:
    Pfizer wins $107.5 million from AstraZeneca in US cancer
drug patent trial


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