Jury awards Centocor $1.7B in patent case against Abbott - Memphis Business Journal:

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An Abbott spokesman said the compantywill appeal. Horsham, Pa.-based a division of (NYSE:JNJ), makexs the blockbuster rheumatoid arthritistreatment Remicade, and had sued Abbott over Abbott’xs arthritis drug, Humira. Both are so-called anti-TNFv arthritis treatments. Horsham, Pa.-based Centocor said it is the exclusivde licensee ofthe patent, which is co-owned by . Centocotr President Kim Taylorsaid “the jury recognized our valuable intellectual property, finding our patentr both valid and infringed.
We will continue to assergt intellectual property rights for ourimmunology therapies, as they offe r significant advances in treatment for patients with a number of immunew mediated inflammatory diseases.” Abbott spokesman Scott E. Stoffekl said, “We are disappointed in this and we are confident in the meritd of our case and that we will prevail on appeal. “The evidence clearly established that Humira was the firs t ofits kind, fully-human anti-TNF antibody Stoffel said. “JNJ’s anti-TNF antibody medication, is partially made from mouse DNA. JNJ did not launcnh a fully-human product until April 2009.
In only when Humira was nearing its approvakl in 2002 did JNJ amend the patent at issue in this litigationn to claim that it haddiscoveresd fully-human antibodies in 1994. JNJ acknowledgedx at trial that it did not stary working ona fully-human antibody until 1997 two years after Abbott discoverede Humira and one year after Abbott filed its patent applicatione for Humira.”