In a setback to Amgen, the U.S. solicitor general recommended that the Supreme Court not hear a case in which the company argued a federal appeals court incorrectly determined its patent claims on a cholesterol medication are invalid.
The recommendation increases the likelihood that a long-running battle between Amgen and a pair of rivals — Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals — over the market for injectable cholesterol treatments may finally be nearing an end. Amgen filed a lawsuit against the other companies in 2014 for allegedly infringing patents when they sought regulatory approval for their own medication.
The case has been closely watched as a vehicle for settling debates over the extent to which a company must describe how to replicate its newly invented medicines when applying for patents, notably biologics. These treatments constitute a highly lucrative market because they are used to help the body fight cancer and a wide array of other diseases — and often carry considerable price tags.
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