TKT: Bloodied But Unbowed

Amgen was the winner of a late January decision involving its patent dispute with Transkaryotic Therapies Inc. over erythropoietin. Its stock rose about 15% in the three days after the ruling, while TKT's shares slid 40% that week. The judge ruled that TKT's process doesn't infringe Amgen's patent, but the product that TKT makes using that process does. The decision is on appeal. TKT argues that its method is a next-generation protein production technology, but if the decision stands, the company will have to take its first shot at something other than EPO.