GSK sues Roche over Genentech's cancer drug patent infringement
23 Sep 2010
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), UK's largest drugmaker, has sued rival Roche for infringing two patents covering antibody purification when it produces its cancer drug Herceptin.
A US unit of GSK has sued Roche and its US subsidiary Genentech Inc for infringing on elements of two patents issued to GSK in 2008 and 2010 that cover antibody purification.
In the suit filed yesterday in the federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, GSK claims that Roche and Genentech infringe its patents by "making and / or having made therapeutic antibody products, including without limitation Herceptin.''
London-based GSK said that it has incurred damages due to the infringement and is seeking compensatory damages till the date the court delivers a judgment.
Roche, based in Basel, is the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics and drugs for cancer. It had acquired California-based Genentech in March 2009 for $4.7 billion.
Roche and Genentech generated almost $5.2 billion from Herceptin sales in the US last year, according to Bloomberg data.
Genentech filed a counter case yesterday in the Northern District of California seeking the court finding that it had not infringed on GSK's two patents.
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