Merck Topples Last of Nine Hopkins Patents in Keytruda Fight

Merck & Co. convinced a patent tribunal to cancel a Johns Hopkins University cancer-treatment patent, effectively gutting the paused federal case over Keytruda unless JHU revives claims on appeal.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board on Monday held that every challenged claim of US Patent No. 11,643,462 was unpatentable, finding Merck proved that earlier clinical research and scientific literature already taught using pembrolizumab, Keytruda’s active ingredient, to treat certain tumors.

The decision wiped out the last of the nine patents Merck challenged at the PTAB in connection with its Maryland lawsuit, which has been paused since mid-2024 while the ...