Bristol-Myers, Cancer Institute Settle Patent Ownership Lawsuit

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc. and drugmakers Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Ono Pharmaceutical Co. have reached a truce, settling a four-year legal feud over whether the pharma firms cut the institute out of ownership rights for lucrative cancer immunotherapy patents.

The parties filed a joint stiuplation April 6 asking the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts to dismiss the case. Chief Judge Patti B. Saris hadn’t yet granted the dismissal as of Monday afternoon.

An administrative tribunal on Monday dismissed Dana-Farber’s challenges to two BMS patents, at the request of the parties. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board ...