Pfizer Wins Patent Case Over J&J
Ruling in favor of Pfizer and Celltrion over Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) Janssen, District Court Judge Mark Wolf wrote Tuesday in his 104-page ruling that the “defendants are entitled to summary judgment of non-infringement of the '083 patent because Janssen has not produced sufficient evidence to prove that the scope of equivalents would not ensnare the prior art.”The decision in Pfizer’s favor differs from another case in federal court that remains ongoing.
Pfizer spokesman Thomas Biegi told Focus in a statement: “We are pleased with the patent decision which is another positive step forward for Inflectra. At the same time, we are continuing to press our claims in federal court to bring an end to J&J’s unlawful anticompetitive activities that deny patients and providers access to Inflectra and the benefits of its lower price.”
Pfizer last September filed a complaint in a US District Court in Pennsylvania alleging that J&J is using "improper exclusionary tactics" to maintain dominance in the US market for its blockbuster Remicade (infliximab) despite recently introduced biosimilar competition.
As far as where that case is and the prospective timeline, Biegi said it’s “in the early stages, with J&J’s motion to dismiss having been fully briefed. The Court will decide the motion after a full assessment of the legal merits. We cannot predict the exact date by which we will get a decision.”
As the case continues, Pfizer has yet to see significant uptake of its biosimilar Inflectra (infliximab-abda) though quarterly US revenues were up from $23 million last year to $63 million this year. By contrast, J&J’s Remicade brought in almost $1 billion in quarterly sales.
Headline updated on 8/2/18 to reflect that the patent in this case was a cell culture media patent, not a Remicade patent.