Lilly’s ‘Horny Goat Weed’ Defense Fails in Cialis Patent Trial

Eli Lilly & Co. lost a patent-infringement trial in which a group of German researchers sought royalties on sales of the erectile dysfunction drug Cialis when it’s used to treat an enlarged prostate (Erfindergemeinschaft UroPep GbR v. Eli Lilly & Co., E.D. Tex., 15-cv-1202, jury verdict 4/21/17).

The drug maker should pay $20 million for infringing a patent owned by Erfindergemeinschaft UroPep GbR, a federal jury in Marshall, Texas, said April 21.

Lilly unsuccessfully claimed the patent was invalid because it sought to claim credit for a way to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia, also known as BPH, that’s ...