US court rules in favor of Celltrion and Hospira in Remicade patent ruling

18 August 2016

US healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) has confirmed a negative US court ruling relating to a biosimilar version of its blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Remicade (infliximab).

The District of Massachusetts Federal Court has issued a ruling on a summary judgment motion filed by South Korea’s Celltrion (Kosdaq: 068270) and Hospira, a subsidiary of Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), in the infringement lawsuits related to Remicade filed by J&J’s subsidiary Janssen Biotech, finding that US patent No 6,284,471 for the drug is invalid.

The drug's patent was scheduled to lapse in September 2018. Celltrion and Hospira's infliximab biosimilar, trade name Inflectra, received US Food and Drug Administration approval in April this year. Inflectra is already marketed by Hospira in Europe (since February 2015), as well as in Australia and Canada.

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