Biogen wins patent ruling for its $4 billion MS treatment – The Boston Globe

Biogen Inc.s Tecfidera pill, which treats multiple sclerosis, generates about $4 billion a year for the Cambridge biotech.

Shares of Biogen Inc. were trading up 1.5 percent early Tuesday afternoon after the Cambridge biotechs patent on its top-selling multiple sclerosis treatment was upheld by a legal ruling.

The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board rejected a patent challenge by Texas hedge fund manager Kyle Bass, who has been working for years to invalidate key intellectual property rights of Biogen and other biotechnology companies. A ruling in favor of the Bass-led Coalition for Affordable Drugs could have hurt Biogens revenue from the oral MS drug Tecfidera, which generated nearly $4 billion in sales last year.

Biogen settled part of a separate ongoing patent dispute with Denmarks Forward Pharma A/S in January, agreeing to pay $1.2 billion to license Forward Pharmas intellectual property covering an active ingredient in Tecfidera. Investors are awaiting a pending decision in a separate part of that case, in which Forward Pharma is seeking annual royalties from Biogen on the sale of Tecfidera.

View post:
Biogen wins patent ruling for its $4 billion MS treatment - The Boston Globe