Amgen Wins Patent Case on Otezla

 Amgen today announced that the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has upheld patents that protect Amgen's psoriasis therapy Otezla® (apremilast) in a patent infringement lawsuit against Sandoz Inc. ("Sandoz") and Zydus Pharmaceuticals (USA), Inc. ("Zydus"). The asserted patents claim apremilast as a composition of matter ("COM"), methods of treating psoriasis with apremilast, and crystalline forms of apremilast. The court found infringement and upheld the validity of four patents – three against each defendant -- but ruled against Amgen on claims in U.S. Patent No. 10,092,541 covering methods of treating psoriasis with apremilast according to a specific dosing schedule. Today's decision will prevent Sandoz and Zydus from making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing each of their generic versions of Otezla until expiration of the COM patent, U.S. Patent No. 7,427,638, in Feb. 2028.

The decision comes after the New Jersey court held a bench trial in June 2021. Prior to trial, Sandoz acknowledged that its generic version of Otezla infringes eight claims in U.S. Patent Nos. 7,427,638, 7,893,101, 8,455,536, and 10,092,541, and Zydus acknowledged that its generic version of Otezla infringes eight claims in U.S. Patent Nos. 7,427,638, 8,093,283, 8,455,536, and 10,092,541, leaving only the issues of whether Zydus's generic version of Otezla infringes U.S. Patent No. 7,893,101 and the validity of the asserted patent claims to be addressed by the court.   

Amgen believes in the value of intellectual property and will continue to vigorously defend its intellectual property rights.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/amgen-wins-patent-case-on-otezla-apremilast-301380921.html