Bass suffers another IPR setback
Hedge fund manager Kyle Bass’s Coalition for Affordable Drugs has suffered another setback in its bid to knock out allegedly spurious patents after the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) declined to institute an inter partes review (IPR) of a patent owned by Biogen.
In a decision handed down yesterday, September 2, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) said it would not review the validity of Biogen’s patent covering its multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment drug Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate).
The decision comes just over a week after the PTAB rejected another IPR petition filed by the coalition against two Acorda Therapeutics-owned patents covering its Ampyra (dalfampridine) drug, which is also used to treat MS.
The latest decision centres on Biogen’s US patent number 8,399,514. The patent was granted in 2013.
Bass had argued that claims 1-20 of the patent were obvious and should be cancelled.
But Administrative Patent Judge Fred McKelvey, who wrote the final opinion, disagreed.
He wrote: “We have considered all arguments presented by petitioner, but find that none justify instituting an IPR.”
George Scandos, chief executive of Biogen, said: “Tecfidera is a significant advance for the treatment of MS and this result speaks to the pioneering efforts by Biogen to bring therapy to patients.
“Patent protection is critical to enabling biopharmaceutical companies to develop new therapies and advance science and medicine,” he added.
In a statement to the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee earlier this year Bass said his petitions intend to “police the abusive patent tactics used by the worst-offending drug companies.”
Last month, Bass filed a counter motion after drug maker Celgene requested that sanctions be brought against Bass for his “ abusive” IPR petitions.
In his counter-motion Bass said that Celegene’s Revlimid (lenalidomide) and Thalomid (thalidomide) drugs are covered by “ poor quality patents” and that the prices are “artificially high”.