Supreme Court Rebuffs Novartis Appeal Over Amgen's Arthritis Drug Enbrel: Report

The Supreme Court turned away a petition from Sandoz seeking to challenge two Amgen Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN) patents related to rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel, thus blocking Novartis AG’s (NYSE: NVS) Sandoz from selling a biosimilar of the drug in the U.S. until 2029.
The justices turned away Novartis subsidiary Sandoz Inc’s appeal of a lower court decision that upheld the validity of the patents. The case involves the active ingredient in Enbrel.
Enbrel is Amgen’s top-selling drug, accounting for nearly $5 billion of the company’s $24.2 billion in product sales for 2020. Enbrel was launched in 1998 by Immunex Corp, which Amgen acquired in 2002.
Erelzi is available in Europe, where it helped contribute to a 20% increase in revenue sales for the Sandoz unit last year, Novartis said in its annual report.
Sandoz got regulatory approval in 2016 to sell biosimilar dubbed Erelzi, Immunex sued for patent infringement.
“Today’s decision means Erelzi, a more affordable biosimilar, will not be available to U.S. patients with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases until 2029,” Keren Haruvi, president of Sandoz US, said in a statement.
Amgen said it was pleased the Supreme Court denied Sandoz’s petition, “finally bringing this dispute to an end.”
Price Action: AMGN shares closed 0.40% higher at $252.38, and NVS shares closed 0.46% lower at $88.55 on Monday.