After a quiet handover, the legal dispute over Teva and Eli Lilly’s migraine drug has resurfaced, with Teva winning an appeal after reversing an earlier patent win in 2023.
The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday issued a ruling (PDF) reinstating Teva’s original victory in a 2018 lawsuit alleging patent infringement on its migraine drug Ajovy by Lilly’s rival Emgality. The ruling reinstates a $176.5 judgment that Teva first won in a Boston court in 2022.
Teva initially accused Lilly of infringing multiple Ajovi patents related to the use of antibodies to treat migraines by blocking peptides. But despite the Israeli-American drugmaker’s initial victory in a federal jury, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts overturned that verdict in 2023.
At the time, Judge Allison Burrows agreed with Lilly that Engarity’s antibodies were different from Ajovi’s and that Teva’s claims were too broad.
“We have considered Lilly’s remaining arguments and find them unpersuasive,” the Federal Circuit wrote in its decision this week. “For the foregoing reasons, we reverse the district court’s (judgment) and remand for further proceedings as necessary or appropriate consistent with this opinion.”
A company spokesperson said in an emailed statement that Lilly is disappointed with the decision and disagrees with it.
“We are considering all options available to us,” the spokesperson said. “Importantly, this decision does not impact our ability to provide Emgality to our patients and we remain fully committed to the patients who rely on it.”
For its part, Teva is “pleased that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has reinstated the jury’s verdict,” a spokesperson told Fiers, calling the decision “a testament to the strength of Teva’s intellectual property.”
Emgality and Ajovy were approved just 13 days apart in September 2018. Both drugs boast a similar mechanism of action, working by inhibiting calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), which is associated with migraine headaches.
Both drugs are approved for migraine prevention, but Emgality is also FDA-approved to treat cluster headaches.
The appellate court justified its position, finding that Teva’s patent properly focused on the use of anti-CGRP antagonist antibodies to treat headaches, rather than the antibody type itself.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated with a statement from Teva and Lilly.
