A US district judge upheld a $1.67-billion jury verdict against Abbott in a case involving allegations that Humira (adalimumab) infringes on a patent exclusively licensed to Johnson & Johnson, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

The ruling upholds a jury decision made in June, under which Abbott must pay $1.17 billion in lost profits and $504 million in royalties to Johnson & Johnson, which markets its own TNF drug, Remicade (infliximab).

Johnson & Johnson claimed that Abbott's anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) drug Humira is made using technology for which it holds the licence, but Abbott said it developed its own technology for the drug. In making his ruling, the judge noted that “Abbott hasn’t carried out its burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that” the patent is unenforceable or invalid. The judge also said that the drugmaker failed to prove that the inventors in obtaining the patent made false statements to the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Abbott spokeswoman Adelle Infante expressed disappointment following the decision and said that the company is "confident in the merits of our case and that we will prevail on appeal."

Reference Articles

Abbott’s $1.67 billion patent suit loss to J&J upheld by judge - (Bloomberg)