To date, 2024 has not yet seen the type of mega-merger (Pfizer/Seagen) or level of agency enforcement (Sanofi/Maze or Amgen/Horizon) as 2023. But two notable investigations — one still active — show the Federal Trade...more
Calls for Removal of Device Patents Listed in the Orange Book Continue. FTC and Congressional action scrutinizing allegedly “improper” Orange Book listings continued apace in the first few months of 2024. ...more
Our readers may recall that nine HUMIRA biosimilars have been licensed to launch in July 2023, with Amgen’s AMJEVITA the only one to launch to date....more
The Supreme Court's decision to grant certiorari in Amgen v. Sanofi is the first time in almost a hundred years that the Court has deigned to consider sufficiency of disclosure decisions, in this case enablement under 35...more
Last week, AbbVie held its third quarter 2022 earnings conference call, which included considerable discussion of forthcoming competition with biosimilars to HUMIRA (adalimumab) in 2023....more
The Seventh Circuit issued this week a long-awaited opinion in the HUMIRA antitrust litigation, UFCW Local 1500 Welfare Fund v. AbbVie Inc., Case No. 20-2402. The appeal is from the Northern District of Illinois’s...more
Celltrion recently announced that it will start selling Yuflyma, an adalimumab biosimilar, in the U.S. in July 2023. The announcement stems from Celltrion’s recently inked patent agreement with AbbVie which allows Celltrion...more
Alvotech Holdings S.A. (“Alvotech”) announced today that it has resolved all intellectual property disputes with AbbVie in Europe related to Alvotech’s AVT02 (adalimumab) biosimilar candidate. This announcement follows...more
On February 18, 2022, in the first and second wave suits filed by AbbVie Inc. et al. (AbbVie) against Alvotech hf. (Alvotech) regarding an adalimumab biosimilar, AbbVie filed a motion to strike Alvotech’s Final Invalidity and...more
As noted in our December 21, 2021 post, Complainants AbbVie Inc., AbbVie Biotechnology Ltd. and AbbVie Operations Singapore Pte. Ltd. filed a complaint at the International Trade Commission against Respondents Alvotech hf.,...more
We have previously reported on AbbVie’s first and second wave suits against Alvotech hf. (Alvotech) in the Northern District of Illinois regarding an adalimumab biosimilar. In the second wave suit, on December 21, 2021,...more
As we close out another calendar year, we look back at the top legal developments of 2021 that could influence the market for biologics and biosimilars. There were many interesting decisions and other developments in district...more
Earlier this year, AbbVie Inc. and AbbVie Biotechnology Ltd. filed a Complaint against Alvotech hf. in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois alleging theft of trade secrets relating to adalimumab. In...more
We have previously reported on AbbVie’s first and second wave suits against Alvotech hf (Alvotech) in the Northern District of Illinois regarding an adalimumab biosimilar. In the first wave suit, on October 5, 2021 AbbVie...more
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) sued AbbVie and Besins Healthcare, co-owners of a patent that covered brand AndroGel, in 2017. The FTC claimed that the manufacturers had brought “sham” patent infringement litigation in...more
On September 10, 2021, Janet Woodcock, Acting Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), sent a letter to Andrew Hirshfeld, Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which raised several of...more
Patenting antibodies has long been challenging. Although most inventions can be patented based on their functionality, assuming the functionality is new and non-obvious, for antibodies and other biomolecules there is a higher...more
On May 28, AbbVie brought a second action in the Northern District of Illinois for patent infringement against Alvotech hf. under the BPCIA in connection with Alvotech’s proposed biosimilar version of HUMIRA® (adalimumab)....more
An article published last week in Scientific Reports describes the results of a multicenter prospective study evaluating the safety and efficacy of switching IBD patients from Abbvie’s Humira product to either of two...more
On May 11, 2021, Alvotech USA and Alvotech hf (jointly, Alvotech) filed a complaint seeking declaratory judgement against AbbVie Inc. and AbbVie Biotechnology Ltd (jointly, AbbVie) in the Eastern District of Virginia. As...more
On February 25, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit heard oral arguments in UFCW Local 1500 Welfare Fund v. AbbVie Inc. (Case No. 20-2402), a case appealed from the U.S. District Court for the Northern...more
Last week the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in UFCW Local 1500 Welfare Fund v. AbbVie Inc., Case No. 20-2402. The appeal concerns the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois’...more
Last week, in FTC v. AbbVie et al., the Third Circuit joined the Seventh Circuit in holding that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was not authorized to seek disgorgement as a remedy under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act –...more
Earlier this month, the California Insurance Commissioner announced that AbbVie had entered into a settlement agreement with the California Department of Insurance (CDOI) to resolve allegations that the pharmaceutical...more
A federal district court recently dismissed a lawsuit against AbbVie and biosimilar manufacturers of adalimumab involving a novel antitrust claim against the Humira patent estate. Attorneys with Haug Partners LLP take an...more