Genentech Files Suit Against Biogen Over Biosimilar for Actemra

Genentech Inc. filed a patent infringement suit against Biogen MA Inc. in an effort to stop its production and sale of a drug that will compete with Actemra, which Genentech sells as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.

According to Genentech’s complaint filed Thursday, Biogen is seeking to market the biosimilar called BIIB800 under the streamlined process outlined in the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act.

But the complaint says that Biogen has been recalcitrant following the procedures the statute establishes to determine whether BIIB800 will violate any of Genentech’s patents for Actemra and its active ingredient tocilizumab, which is a ...