According to inhalation CDMO Vectura, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has upheld a ruling by the District Court of Delaware against GlaxoSmithKline for infringing on a Vectura patent and has denied GSK a new trial. If GSK wants to ask to have the case heard again, it has 30 days to file a petition.
In May 2019, a jury found that GSK had willfully infringed on Vectura’s US patent 8303991, which covers several Ellipta products, and awarded Vectura $89.7 million in damages. In September 2019, a judge upheld that award and added another $10.5 million.
In addition to those amounts, GSK owes Vectura a 3% royalty on continuing sales of Breo, Anoro, and Incruse Ellipta DPIs, plus interest. Vectura estimates that the total amount could eventually reach $200 million.
Vectura CEO Will Downie commented, “We are very pleased with the result of this appeal, which confirms the validity of our intellectual property and the decision to progress this litigation with GSK. Once we have further clarity regarding final settlement and potential timing of receipts, we will provide a further market update.”
Read the Vectura press release.
