Bristol Myers Squibb is not done filing patent infringement suits.
After making cases against Roche and Merck, the drugmaker is now saying that AstraZeneca is “exploiting" BMS' inventions and "infringing" on BMS'
intellectual property rights. BMS says it was responsible for the development of the first anti-PD-1 antibody “approved anywhere in the world for cancer treatment” pointing to Opdivo (nivolumab).
AZ is being accused of abusing the patents by marketing a “later-developed anti-PD-L1 drug,” than Opdivo, which received FDA approval in 2014, while AZ’s Imfinzi was greenlit three years later.
In the newly filed lawsuit, BMS is also arguing that it “invented methods invented methods for treating cancer and methods for enhancing immune responses by administering antibodies that bind to PD-L1."
The complaint could come with a hefty price, as BMS won a similar lawsuit against Merck that resulted in a $625 million-plus royalties payment.