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Amgen ( AMGN ) won a patent suit against its fellow biotech Regeneron Pharmaceuticals ( REGN ) and partner Sanofi ( SNY ) related to their rival cholesterol drugs Wednesday. Amgen sued in October 2014, charging that Regeneron’s and Sanofi’s co-developed drug Praluent violated patents that Amgen held on its drug Repatha. The two drugs are similar, both being proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors. Amgen had been slightly ahead in its development timeline, but Regeneron bought a priority-review voucher that let it launch Praluent last July, about a month ahead of Repatha. The case went to a jury, which on Wednesday ruled in favor of Amgen that its patents were valid. Amgen also asked for a permanent injunction, which will be decided in a hearing scheduled for March 23-24. Regeneron’s general counsel, Joseph LaRosa, said in a press release that the companies will appeal. “This is a complex area of law and science, and we believe the facts and controlling law support our position,” said LaRosa. “We look forward to taking our case to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. appellate court that hears all biopharmaceutical patent appeals.” Evercore ISI analyst Mark Schoenebaum wrote that the appeal could take an additional 12 to 18 months. “Recall, no new arguments are able to be presented in the Appeals Court (appeal is fact-based) and so the bar is relatively high,” he wrote in an email to clients. Analysts have expected the likeliest outcome to the suit would be a royalty paid to Amgen on Praluent sales. Schoenebaum estimated that a 5% royalty could peel 1% off Regeneron’s 2020 EPS. Trading on Regeneron shares were halted midday in the stock market today while the news came out, after rising 2.6% in morning trading. When trading resumed in the early afternoon, Regeneron stock was down more than 1%. Amgen stock, meanwhile, was down a fraction Wednesday afternoon, near 143, while Sanofi stock, which was not halted, was down nearly 2%, near 40.50. Scalper1 News
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