Court Revives Genentech Lawsuit Against Amgen

A federal appeals court Monday revived Genentech Inc.’s 1996 patent infringement suit against rival Amgen Inc. The dispute involves the method Amgen uses to produce its blockbuster drug Neupogen, which had sales of $1.3 billion in 2001.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington said a federal district judge erred when he dismissed the suit in 1999. The appeals court sent the case back to the U.S. District Court in San Francisco for further proceedings.

Genentech accused Amgen of infringement on three patents covering a method of producing proteins in bacterial cells. The patents were based on discoveries made at City of Hope National Medical Center in the late 1970s.

The appeals court said U.S. District Judge William Alsup’s dismissal of the suit was based on a faulty interpretation of terms used in the patents. The terms describe the “control region” of genes that instruct the bacterial cells to produce human proteins.

Genentech spokeswoman Sabrina Johnson said the company was pleased with the decision. “This allows us to move forward,” she said.

Amgen spokesman Jeff Richardson said the company had not seen the decision and could not comment.

The appeals court also upheld the denial of Genentech’s request for Amgen’s laboratory notebooks and other internal data to determine whether there had been infringement.

The ruling comes as Genentech is defending itself in a breach-of-contract suit by City of Hope over the patents. The hospital, based in Duarte, claims that Genentech owes it royalties on drugs made by third parties that licensed the patents from Genentech.

The research by City of Hope that lead to the patents was funded by Genentech. Shares of Thousand Oaks-based Amgen closed down $1.96 at $51.88 after trading at a 52-week low of $51.50. Shares of Genentech, based in South San Francisco, fell 25 cents to $35.50.