ARIAD and Co-Plaintiffs Obtain Favorable Court Ruling in Lilly Patent Infringement Lawsuit
Tuesday May 13, 4:42 pm ET
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 13, 2003--ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARIA - News) today announced that the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (the "Court") has ruled in favor of ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and co-plaintiffs in a patent infringement suit filed on June 25, 2002 against Eli Lilly and Company ("Lilly") alleging infringement of their pioneering U.S. patent covering methods of treating human disease by regulating NF-(kappa)B cell-signaling activity. The lawsuit alleges infringement by Lilly through sales of its osteoporosis drug, Evista®, and septic shock drug, Xigris®. The Court denied Lilly's combined motion to dismiss and its motion for summary judgment challenging the validity of the NF-(kappa)B method of treatment patent claims. The co-plaintiffs are Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and The President and Fellows of Harvard College.
"We are very pleased with the Court's ruling," said Harvey J. Berger, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of ARIAD. "Our objective now is to proceed expeditiously to trial and to seek a damage award based on a reasonable royalty on Lilly's sales of Evista and Xigris, as we continue to pursue additional licenses of our NF-(kappa)B patent portfolio." |
