Eli Lilly, Bristol-Myers Unable to Escape Penn Patent Suit

Eli Lilly & Co. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. couldn’t convince a federal judge that the cancer treatment Erbitux doesn’t infringe a University of Pennsylvania patent, or that the patent is invalid.

The university alleges the administration of Erbitux, followed by radiation, infringes U.S. Patent No. 7,625,558. Lilly and Bristol-Myers asked the court to find the disputed patent claim invalid and to rule there is no infringement. Alternatively, they argued no reasonable jury could conclude any infringement was willful.

Judge Paul Diamond in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied the summary judgment motions in a ...