11th Oct 2018 13:27
LONDON (Alliance News) - Silence Therapeutics PLC said Thursday the US Patent Trial & Appeal Board rejected Alnylam Pharmaceutics Inc's petition against newly-issued Silence patents.
Alnylam filed a total of five petitions challenging the validity of the issued patents. In its first decision, the board found that Alnylam had not met its initial burden of showing that the patents are invalid.
Silence expects the board's decision on the other petitions in the next several months.
Chief Executive Officer David Horn Solomon said: "We are very pleased with this favourable outcome in US patent office proceedings initiated by Alnylam. We are hopeful that the remaining proceedings will result in similar outcomes and that Silence's patent position will be fully vindicated."
Silence and Alnylam are currently involved in other legal battles.
On Wednesday, Silence Therapeutics filed a cross-border interim injunction application to stop Alnylam from commercialising the patisiran drug across Europe.
Patisiran uses the human body's natural mechanism of RNA interference within its cells to curtail the production of disease-associated proteins.
The company filed the injunction in the Netherlands, where Alnylam holds its marketing authorisation for Onpattro, its version of patisiran, requesting the courts to prohibit Alnylam from commercialising it.
Silence had been in dispute with Alnylam, saying its patisiran is an infringement on its intellectual property. A UK trial is set to begin in December with a decision early 2019.
Silence shares were trading down 1.2% at 120.0 pence each.
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