Ariad wins NF-kappa B suit

A jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts concluded that osteoporosis drug Evista raloxifene and sepsis drug Xigris recombinant human activated protein C from Eli Lilly (LLY) infringe ARIA's patent covering methods of treating human disease by regulating NF-kappa B cell signaling activity. The jury awarded the plaintiffs, including ARIA, Harvard, MIT and the Whitehead Institute, about $65.2 million in damages based on a 2.3% royalty rate on the drugs, starting from the suit filing in June 2002 through this February. Also, the plaintiffs were awarded a 2.3% royalty on the drugs through 2019, when the patent expires. LLY said it will seek to have the verdict overturned by the trial court judge and, if unsuccessful, will appeal. ...