Alexion plunges as Amgen challenges Soliris patents

31 August 2019

Shares of US biotech firm Alexion Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ALXN) crashed 8% in pre-market trading on Friday, reacting to the news that peer Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) is challenging of three patents covering top seller Soliris (eculizumab).

Reuters reports that the US Patent Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) will conduct an inter-partes review of new Soliris patents that, if upheld, will extend Soliris' US exclusivity to 2027. The US Patent Office should announce its decision in about a year.

The IPR is seeking to invalidate secondary patents covering the composition of the active ingredient of Soliris, eculizumab, its formulation, and its use to treat certain diseases, including proxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). These patents issued later than the original composition of matter patent, and extended the product’s protection from 2022 to 2027.

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