ARTICLE | Company News
Genentech, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Pharmacia & Upjohn, Serono Laboratories Inc. metabolic news
October 13, 1997 7:00 AM UTC
Novo Nordisk filed a patent infringement suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against the other companies, all of which manufacture human growth hormone (hGH). The suit alleges that the four defendants willfully infringed Novo Nordisk's U.S. Patent No. 5,633,352, which covers the production of mature hGH (free of pituitary contaminants) and other proteins by cleaving a small pre-sequence from the protein with the enzyme dipeptidyl aminopeptidase. In addition, the suit alleges that Eli Lilly infringed Novo Nordisk's 5,618,697 and 5,635,604 patents, which cover similar methods for obtaining pure mature hGH.
The suit seeks compensatory and trebled damages from each defendant. ...