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10 March 2017Americas

PTAB upholds Acorda’s Ampyra patents in Kyle Bass case

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board upheld Acorda Therapeutics’ patents covering the drug Ampyra (dalfampridine) in a case against Kyle Bass’s Coalition for Affordable Drugs in a decision handed down yesterday.

Ampyra is used to improve walking in patients with multiple sclerosis.

The patents involved in the case were challenged by the coalition when it filed four inter partes reviews (IPRs) in September 2015.

The IPRs were instituted on four grounds, and the final hearing was conducted at the beginning of 2016.

“We determine that petitioner has not demonstrated by a preponderance of evidence that claims 1–52 are unpatentable on the instituted grounds,” the PTAB said in its decision.

Ron Cohen, Acorda's president and CEO, said in a  statement: “The court decision reflects the merits of the case we presented and the validity and strength of our intellectual property for Ampyra.”

The patents involved in the case were US numbers 8,440,703 B2; 8,007,826 B2; 8,663,685 B2; and 8,354,437 B2.