Roche Loses Bid to Block Amgen’s Biosimilar of Herceptin (1)

Roche Holding AG’s Genentech lost an appeals court bid to block Amgen Inc. from selling a biosimilar of the blockbuster breast cancer drug Herceptin while a patent-infringement case is pending.

An appeals court, without issuing a formal opinion, affirmed a trial judge’s ruling that let Amgen sell its copy, called Kanjinti. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit announced its decision three days after hearing arguments in the case.

Genentech claims Amgen’s biosimilar would infringe three patents for the dosing of Herceptin. Amgen had conceded infringement, a common legal tactic so it could focus on challenging the ...