A federal judge in Delaware on Wednesday ruled in favor of AstraZeneca, overturning a jury
verdict that had ordered the company to pay $107.5 million for allegedly infringing on
cancer-drug patents held by Pfizer subsidiary Wyeth.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly found the two patents that Pfizer accused AstraZeneca
of infringing with its successful lung-cancer drug Tagrisso to be invalid. Representatives
from Pfizer and AstraZeneca did not immediately provide comments on the ruling.
Pfizer, based in New York, which acquired Wyeth in 2009, filed a lawsuit against
AstraZeneca in 2021, claiming that Tagrisso infringed on patents related to the breast-cancer
drug Nerlynx, produced by Puma Biotechnology under a license from Pfizer.
AstraZeneca, headquartered in the UK, earned nearly $5.8 billion from Tagrisso last year,
according to company reports.
In May, a jury sided with Pfizer and awarded the company $107.5 million in damages.
However, Judge Kennelly ruled in favor of AstraZeneca on Wednesday, stating that the
verdict could not be upheld because the patents lacked valid written descriptions of their
inventions and would not enable an ordinary scientist in the field to replicate them.
The case is Wyeth LLC v. AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, U.S. District Court for the
District of Delaware, No. 1:21-cv-01338.
Pfizer was represented by Anthony Insogna, Gasper LaRosa, Jason Winchester, Bethany
Biesenthal, John Michalik, Alexis Smith, and Jennifer Swize of Jones Day; and Sara Horton
and Ren-How Harn of Willkie Farr & Gallagher. AstraZeneca was represented by
Christopher Sipes, Einar Stole, and Megan Keane of Covington & Burling.
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