Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
PR Newswire, 810 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019 - Thursday, 31 October 1996.
The decision of the House of Lords affirms an October 1994 ruling of the United Kingdom's Court of Appeal that overturned a November 1993 ruling of the United Kingdom's High Court of Justice. The High Court had originally ruled that the Biogen patent was valid and infringed by Medeva plc's hepatitis B vaccine.
As a result of the House of Lord's ruling, one of Biogen's European patents for hepatitis B antigens will no longer be enforceable in the United Kingdom or in British patent registration countries. The European Patent Office issued a patent to Biogen for hepatitis B antigens in 1990. The validity of this patent was affirmed by the highest level of the European Patent Office. The Biogen British patent that was ruled invalid is based on this European patent. The decision of the House of Lords is final and cannot be appealed.
Jim Vincent, Biogen's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Although we expect to continue receiving our U.K. royalties of less than a million dollars annually based on the surviving hepatitis B patent, we are clearly disappointed by today's decision. The Biogen hepatitis B antigen patent in question has been repeatedly upheld by the European Patent Office, despite numerous challenges by other companies. As a result, we are confident that this ruling will not affect the validity of our hepatitis B patent portfolio in other European countries or anywhere else in the world."
Biogen, Inc., headquartered in Cambridge, MA, is a biopharmaceutical company principally engaged in developing and manufacturing drugs for human healthcare through genetic engineering. The Company's revenues are generated from U.S. sales of AVONEX(TM) (Interferon beta-1a) for treatment of multiple sclerosis, and from the worldwide sales by licensees of a number of products, including alpha interferon and hepatitis B vaccines and diagnostic products. Biogen is focused primarily on developing and testing novel products for multiple sclerosis and other neurological diseases, inflammatory and respiratory diseases and certain viruses and cancers.
CONTACT: Media: Kathryn R. Bloom, Director of Communications, 617-679-2851 or Investment Community: Richard E.N. Lundberg, Manager of Investor Relations, 617-679-2822, Internet: Rick_Lundberg@mail.biogen.com both of Biogen
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