Court rules in favor of Celltrion’s Rituxan biosimilar

[THE INVESTOR] Celltrion announced Aug. 24 the Korea Intellectual Property Tribunal found Biogen’s rituximab patent invalid on Aug. 23.

The South Korean biopharmaceutical company contested the move to challenge the validity of Biogen’s patents related to its Rituxan, an original of its cancer-treatment biosimilar Truxima, in 2015. 

Biogen holds three patents related to the blockbuster drug that raked in US$7.3 billion won across the world last year, and this leaves only one out of five patents related to Rituxan, a therapeutic agent for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, valid.

The favorable ruling from the patent scope confirmation trial will help accelerate Celltrion’s plan to launch the rituximab biosimilar in South Korea within this year.

By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)