Roche’s Genentech Sues Tanvex to Block Cancer Drug Biosimilar

Roche Holding AG’s Genentech Inc. alleges that Tanvex BioPharma Inc.’s proposed biosimilar of Herceptin infringes three patents related to the process for making the blockbuster antibody treatment for breast and gastric cancer, according to a federal lawsuit in California.

A regulatory statement Tanvex gave Genentech on Feb. 22, about Tanvex’s claims that its product doesn’t infringe the patents and that the patents are invalid, “failed to fully describe Tanvex’s manufacturing process” such that Genentech couldn’t evaluate many of the noninfringement and invalidity arguments, according to a complaint filed Thursday in the US District Court for the Southern District of ...