BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

Amgen boosted by hearing

April 11, 2000 7:00 AM UTC

The final Markman hearing was held on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts relating to Amgen's erythropoietin patent infringement suit against Transkaryotic Therapies (TKTX) and partner Aventis (see BioCentury Extra, March 29). Despite the uncertainties surrounding how definitions of patent claim terms will affect the outcome of the case, AMGN was up $0.25 to $59.125 while TKTX was down $4.188 to $34.688 on Tuesday.

At the Markman hearings, Judge William Young is construing language that will help guide his interpretation of the patent claims once the trial begins (see BioCentury, April 3). At Monday's hearing, Young further defined claim terms found in AMGN's patents covering EPO, with potential benefits to both sides. A total of six new terms were defined on Monday, covering the DNA constructs used to express EPO in cell culture, the resulting EPO molecule and the means by which that molecule was purified. ...