Hep C Pill Patent Too Broad to Protect, Federal Circuit Finds

A Federal Circuit panel refused to revive an overturned University of Minnesota patent covering a broad swath of hepatitis C treatments, upholding a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that found competitor Gilead Sciences Inc. discovered a specific compound first.

The court agreed Monday with Gilead that the school’s overturned US Patent No. 8,815,830, which could cover as many as 4 million working compounds, didn’t spell out exactly how a scientist might make a particular remedy—a concept that has the potential to impact drug research and development strategies.

“Following this maze-like path, each step providing multiple alternative paths, is ...