Regeneron ‘Safe Harbor’ Argument Rejected in Covid Cocktail Suit

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s infringement of a California biotechnology company’s patent for technology used to develop its Covid-19 “antibody cocktail” isn’t immunized by the US Patent Act’s safe harbor provision, a federal judge ruled.

Allele Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals Inc., a privately held company founded in 1999, sued Regeneron in October 2020 seeking royalties for the use of its mNeonGreen protein in developing the experimental treatment to treat Covid-19 symptoms.

mNeonGreen “is not a ‘patented invention’ for purposes of the safe harbor provision of” the law, Judge Philip M. Halpern wrote in an opinion issued Friday in the US District Court for ...