Celgene seeks dismissal of Bass IPR petitions
Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ:CELG) filed four motions this week with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office requesting sanctions to dismiss inter partes review (IPR) petitions submitted by the Coalition for Affordable Drugs. The Coalition, controlled by hedge fund manager Kyle Bass, filed the IPR petitions in April to invalidate two of Celgene's patents on Revlimid lenalidomide (see BioCentury Extra, April 23).
In its motions, Celgene accused the Coalition of using the IPR process to manipulate the stock prices of public companies. Celgene also alleged that before the IPRs were filed, someone associated with the Coalition had attempted to obtain payment from Celgene in exchange for witholding the petitions. Celgene asked the board to dismiss the petitions as a sanction against the Coalition "for their abuse and improper use" of IPR proceedings. ...