Amgen Wins Court Decision for Cholesterol Drug Patents

Thousand Oaks-based Amgen Inc. has won in court battle as the jury upheld two patents for its cholesterol-lowering drug Repatha. Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, who partnered to make a competing drug named Praluent, sued Amgen for patent infringement. The companies have been battling over their respective cholesterol drugs since October 2014, when Amgen filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Sanofi and Regeneron to prevent the competing companies from manufacturing and selling Praulent, according to a Zacks news release Tuesday. A Delaware jury ruled in favor of Amgen in March 2016 and granted the company permanent injunction against infringement by Sanofi and Regeneron in January 2017. The judgment was later reversed by a federal circuit court, which demanded a new trial. Sanofi and Regeneron, based in New Jersey and New York respectively, plan to appeal a portion of the verdict they lost, according to a press release from Amgen on Monday. “Today’s decision protects intellectual property, which is essential to innovators who are bringing forward new medicines for patients with serious diseases. Amgen scientists discovered and developed Repatha, which can play a key role in the fight against cardiovascular disease,” Robert Bradway, chief executive at Amgen, said in a statement. Repatha and Praulent treat people with ultra-high cholesterol; both are PCSK9 inhibitors. PCSK9 is a gene that regulates cholesterol-related protein. These inhibitors are designed for patients who could not get their cholesterol levels under control using statin drugs such as Pfizer’s Lipitor.