By Donald Zuhn —

On Monday, ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts had ruled in its favor in a patent infringement suit ARIAD filed against Eli Lilly and Co.  ARIAD and co-plaintiffs Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, and The President and Fellows of Harvard College had filed suit against Eli Lilly on June 25, 2002, contending that Eli Lilly’s osteoporosis drug, Evista®, and septic shock drug, Xigris®, infringed the plaintiffs’ U.S. Patent No. 6,410,516.  In a 57-page opinion, the District Court
determined that ‘516 patent did not encompass unpatentable subject matter and was not unenforceable due to inequitable conduct or prosecution laches.  A jury had previously found the ‘516 patent valid and infringed in May 2006.

ARIAD also announced on Monday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had issued a final Office action in its reexamination of the ‘516 patent.  In that Action, the Patent Office rejected the patentability of certain claims, including the claims ARIAD had asserted against Eli Lilly (and in a separate lawsuit, against Amgen Inc. and Wyeth).  The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech company has said that it plans to respond to the Action and, "if necessary, appeal the decision through all appropriate means of review within the Patent Office and the courts."

For additional information on this and other related topics, please see:

• "Court Report," April 23, 2007
• "ARIAD Files Infringement Claim against Amgen and Wyeth," April 17, 2007
• "Setback for ARIAD in Dispute with Amgen," January 9, 2007