Bayer’s Stivarga patent targeted in IPR petition

Fustibal, a targeted therapeutics biotechnology start-up, has filed an inter partes review (IPR) petition challenging a patent owned by German pharmaceutical company Bayer.

The petition challenges US patent number 8,637,553, which covers the cancer treatment drug Stivarga (regorafenib).

Fustibal said it was challenging the validity of the patent and is requesting that all the claims are found unpatentable.

The company added that “the structure o f the claimed compound regorafenib is identical to that of its predecessor compound Nexavar (sorafenib)”, another drug produced by Bayer.

David Tran, founding scientist at Fustibal, said: “We believe that the patent is invalid and thwarts the spirit of innovation.”

He added: “The IPR process is being utilised to clear questionable intellectual property rights that would unduly delay the development of our novel antibody-based drug for multi-targeted cancer therapy”.

Bayer’s patent is due to expire in February 2031.