Court rules against Lilly in Emisphere suit

The court re-affirmed its January 2006 ruling, stating that the patent related to the use of Emisphere's proprietary technology with GLP molecules belonged to Emisphere under the terms of an agreement between the two companies.

The decision follows the collapse of a collaboration between Lilly and Emisphere that had aimed to develop a pill form of an injectible bone-strengthening drug. However, Lilly was found to have breached the details of the contract after conducting a separate research program using its partner's technology.

In rejecting Lilly's arguments against the requested order, the court stated that it “cannot say that Lilly was acting in good faith” and that denial of Emisphere's request for equitable relief “would further compound Lilly's breaches” of the agreements.

The order signed by the court will take effect on May 5, 2006, unless Lilly files a notice of appeal by May 3, 2006, in which case the court's decision will be automatically stayed until the completion of the appeal. However, the court said it believed Lilly's likelihood of success on appeal was not high.

“We are pleased that the court has ruled that Lilly must turn over misappropriated intellectual property to Emisphere,” commented Dr Michael Goldberg, chairman and CEO of Emisphere. “Lilly's broad based misuse of Emisphere's technology and their violation of our agreements should have serious consequences for Lilly. We will continue to pursue all available remedies in order to compensate Emisphere for the damage caused by Lilly's actions.”