Celltrion has won in an appellate trial, filed by the multinational pharmaceutical firm Janssen claiming that the Korean company’s Remsima, or Inflectra in the U.S., had infringed on the latter’s patent.
According to Celltrion, the U.S. Federal Court of Appeal ruled on March 5 that Janssen's claim for equivalent infringement of Remsima's technology is untenable, as the Korean company was not infringing on Janssen's technology patent.
Celltrion believes the ruling is highly unusual given that it was the result of a unanimous decision by three judges just a day after the appeal hearing took place on April 4.
Considering that it usually takes about one or two months from the proceedings of a hearing to a ruling, the U.S. appeals court’s decision can be interpreted as an unusually quick one in response to Celltrion's reasonable and persuasive argument.
Janssen filed a trial with the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts in March 2015, claiming that Celltrion's biosimilar Remsima infringed on its patent on a medium containing nutrients for culturing antibodies.
In a ruling in July 2018, the federal court said that Janssen's claims of infringement were unjust and that Celltrion did not infringe Jansen's medium patent, and that the disobedient Jansen filed an appeal in December 2018.
Under the judgement that the patent lawsuit against Janssen has virtually ended with the appeals court’s ruling, Celltrion expects Remsima, which is being sold in the U.S., to gain momentum for stable market share without risk of patent dispute.
In addition, Celltrion expects that additional production of Remsima in the U.S. will be possible through CMO in the future, and that it will have a positive effect on the production and sales of Remsima SC in the U.S. in the future.