Curium Knocks Out Novartis Cancer Drug Patents in Generics Fight

All of the patent claims Novartis AG units accuse Curium Pharma subsidiaries and Lantheus Holdings Inc. of infringing to create cancer therapies that would rival their Lutathera injection are invalid, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

The claims are invalid because they were on sale for more than a year before the effective filing date of the inventions, Judge Maryellen Noreika said in the opinion issued following a five-day December bench trial in the US District Court for the District of Delaware.

Noreika also ruled Lantheus’ generic infringed one of the patents, but the finding is mooted by the invalidity ruling. ...