Yesterday, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that the patents underpinning Erbitux (cetuximab), a treatment for advanced colorectal cancer made by Imclone Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:IMCL), belonged exclusively to Yeda Research and Development Company Ltd., the technology transfer company of the Weizmann Institute of Science, and the three scientists who developed the drug. The researchers are Dr. Esther Pirak, Dr. Esther Hurwitz, and Prof. Michael Sela, one of the discoverers of Copaxone. The Weizmann Institute sued ImClone over the patent in 2003.
Yeda CEO Amir Naiberg said, “This is a patent for the combination between a particular antigen and chemotherapy, which underpins Erbitux’s treatment. Our patent does not protect Erbitux itself. We claim that in 1998, Rhone-Roulac Rorer, now part of Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY, Euronext: SAN) obtained a draft article, which first described the method of using a combination of chemotherapy and this antigen for treatment. The three researchers later published the article. Erbitux was developed on the basis of this idea. Other companies, including Amgen Inc. (Nasdaq:AMGN), are attempting to develop similar drugs. Aventis awarded ImClone rights to use the patent.”
“Globes”: Are you implying that Rorer stole the patent?
Naiberg: “Heaven forbid. We never accused them of such a thing, and we don’t think that’s what happened. They were simply careless in documenting the origin of the information.”
ImClone has $600 million in sales, of which $400 million comes from Erbitux. The company has a market cap of $2.5 billion, even after the infamous insider trading scandal, but its situation is delicate. The company said it would appeal the court ruling, a process which will probably take about a year. If the appeal is dismissed, ImClone will have to pay rights to the Weizmann Institute retroactively.
Meanwhile, Amgen has announced that it has obtained a license under Yeda's rights in the patent. Amgen is due to launch its own product based on Yeda’s patent. The Weizmann Institute and the scientists will likely earn royalties from these products. Although the amount of these royalties are hard to estimate, the could amount to tens of millions of dollars. Yeda’s patent will expire in 2017.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on September 20, 2006
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