Monday, September 22, 2008

Ariad loses drug patent suit against Amgen

By Mass High Tech Staff

Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc., an oncology-focused drug developer in Cambridge, lost its patent case against Amgen Inc., Ariad officials reported.

The U.S. District Court of Delaware found that Amgen’s Enbrel drug, used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, did not infringe on Ariad’s patent for reducing NF-B activity.

Ariad’s patent, issued in 2002, protects the company’s drug technology and treatments relating to NF-B cell-signaling regulation. The patent is based on research led by professors David Baltimore, Phillip Sharp and Tom Maniatis at MIT, The Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Harvard University. Ariad (Nasdaq: ARIA) maintains an exclusive license on the patent.

In response to the court decision, Ariad chairman and CEO Harvey Berger said the company planned to follow up the rulings with legal action.

Ariad discovers and develops small-molecule drugs to regulate cell-signalling for the treatment of cancer.

Last week, Ariad announced that it had acquired the remaining 20 percent of its subsidiary, Ariad Gene Therapeutics Inc. (AGTI). The subsidiary will now be folded into Ariad and will cease to exist. The move will allow the company to reap the full  “economic benefit” from sales of AGTI’s immuno-supressant cancer drug deforolimus (AP23573) and other assets, according to CEO Berger.

In 2007, the company reported a net loss of $58 million on $3.5 million in revenue.