A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit did not seem eager to overturn decisions invalidating Janssen Biotech Inc.'s Remicade (infliximab) composition patent but their questions during oral arguments left the outcome of the case uncertain.
The panel, which convened Oct. 3 at the US Court of International Trade in New York City, heard two cases concerning patent No. 6,284,471, which covers the infliximab anti-TNF antibody: Janssen's appeal of a district court ruling in its infringement suit against Celltrion Inc. and Pfizer Inc. subsidiary Hospira Inc