On Thursday, May 4, 2017, Baxalta, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shire, filed a complaint (available here) against Genentech and Tokyo-based Chugai Pharmaceutical in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. The complaint alleges infringement of Baxalta’s U.S. Patent No. 7,033,590, which Baxalta alleges covers the defendants’ emicizumab product (a/k/a ACE910), which is still under development. The complaint alleges that according to media reports, “Defendants expect to launch emicizumab in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2017” and “under standard industry practice, Defendants would typically begin manufacturing and/or importing emicizumab for commercial scale at least one year in advance of an anticipated launch date.” Baxalta therefore alleges that Genentech and Chugai infringe the ’590 patent by “either currently using, manufacturing, and/or importing emicizumab for commercial sale in the United States … or plan[ning] to do so imminently.” Baxalta’s complaint seeks judgment in its favor, monetary damages, and an injunction enjoining both Genentech and Chugai from selling emicizumab in the United States.
