Regeneron, Sanofi to appeal US court’s ruling in Praulent patent case

Amgen which filed the lawsuit against the joint developers of Praulent got the injunction in its favor in the US District Court in Delaware.

The California based company had requested the court for a permanent injunction prohibiting the two pharmas from infringing two patents that it holds for Repatha (evolocumab).

Amgen chairman and CEO Robert Bradway said: "Sanofi and Regeneron admitted that they had infringed our patents, and the jury upheld our patents as valid. Protecting intellectual property is essential to our industry as it reinforces the incentives for the large and risky investments we make in innovation to bring forward new medicines to treat serious diseases.”

Both Regeneron and Sanofi called Amgen’s patent claims to be invalid while revealing their plans of appealing a prior jury verdict that upheld the validity of the patents.

Sanofi executive vice president and general counsel Karen Linehan said: "It is our longstanding position that Amgen's patent claims are invalid and that the best interests of patients will be greatly disserved by an injunction preventing access to Praluent."

The injunction will not come into immediate effect with the court delaying its imposition for 30 days. This is said to give Regeneron and Sanofi time to move a motion for a stay of the court’s ruling during the appeal process.

In the meanwhile, the defendants stated that Praluent will be available to patients during this timeframe.

Regeneron senior vice president, general counsel and secretary Joseph LaRosa said: "We will continue to vigorously defend our case through the appeal process as we believe the facts and controlling law support our position.”

Both Praulent and Repatha are proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors that lower the bad LDL cholesterol.