Novartis Owes Plexxikon $178 Million in Drug Patent Fight (3)

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. must pay Daiichi Sankyo’s Plexxikon Inc. $178 million for infringing two cancer drug patents, a federal jury in California ruled.

Plexxikon’s patents are for compounds it began developing in 2005 that help reduce cancer cell growth. Plexxikon relied on its inventions to co-develop the skin cancer drug Zelboraf with Roche. Novartis failed to persuade the jury that the patents are invalid.

The verdict on Thursday is a blow to Novartis, whose Tafinlar and a companion melanoma drug Mekinist generated $1.5 billion in revenue last year, and $393 million in the first quarter.

Novartis “is considering further its ...