In its summary judgment ruling, the court found that the administration of Enbrel falls outside the scope of the asserted claims based on the court’s interpretation of these claims to exclude extracellular methods of reducing NF-kappa B activity. The court also canceled the trial scheduled for November 2008 and administratively closed the case at this time.
In its appeal, Ariad will seek reinterpretation of the asserted patent claims by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit so that Ariad’s infringement case against Amgen may be tried by the Delaware Court. Amgen’s challenges to the validity and enforceability of the ‘516 patent claims will not be considered by the Delaware Court until that time.
Harvey Berger, chairman and CEO of Ariad, said: “We appreciate the judge’s ruling and now plan to proceed promptly with our appeal to the Federal Circuit. A ruling on this appeal is expected to take approximately 12 to 18 months.”