Friday December 14, 3:39 pm Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Genzyme General
Genzyme Moves Toward Appeal in Patent Infringement Suit Against TKT
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Genzyme Corp. announced today that the U.S. District Court in Delaware has, at the company's request, clarified certain claim constructions in its Markman ruling of November 29, 2001. Based on this clarification, Genzyme will concede non-infringement in its patent lawsuit against Transkaryotic Therapies Inc. in order to expedite an appeal of the Markman ruling to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Genzyme is suing TKT for patent infringement in connection with the manufacture of Replagal(TM), TKT's enzyme replacement therapy for Fabry disease. The suit alleges infringement of U.S. patent No. 5,356,804, which is exclusively licensed to Genzyme by Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The patent is directed to methods of making alpha-galactosidase in mammalian cells, as well as the genetically-engineered cells themselves. Alpha-galactosidase is the enzyme that is deficient in patients with Fabry disease. Genzyme's unextended patent protection expires in October 2011.
Genzyme General (Nasdaq: GENZ - news), a division of Genzyme Corp., is developing Fabrazyme (agalsidase beta), an enzyme replacement therapy for patients with Fabry disease. Fabrazyme is approved in the European Union, and Genzyme is pursuing authorization to market the product in the United States and elsewhere.
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