Skip Amgen-Sanofi Cholesterol Drug Fight, DOJ Tells High Court

The US Supreme Court should decline to take up Amgen Inc.'s long-running patent dispute with Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. regarding their rival cholesterol drugs Repatha and Praluent, the solicitor general said in closely watched litigation over antibody-based medicine.

Absent high court intervention, Sanofi and Regeneron’s victory over Amgen would be left standing in a case that drew high interest from drugmakers, biotechnology companies, and intellectual property lawyers. Some, including Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Merck & Co., previously said Amgen’s loss—with courts finding that its patents were too broad to be valid—could hinder research and development for antibody drugs. Others, ...