US company claims Irish firm Amgen infringing cancer drug patent

Genentech says Amgen Incorporated and Amgen Technology (Ireland is infringing a protection certificate it enjoys on its patent for its product, Avastin.

A US biotechnology company claims an Irish rival is infringing its patent on a widely used cancer treatment drug which sold more than $9bn worldwide in the three years up to 2017.

Genentech, which is headquartered in California, and part of the Roche Group, says Amgen Incorporated and Amgen Technology (Ireland), with its registered office in Pottery Road, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, is infringing a protection certificate it enjoys on its patent for its product, Avastin. Amgen calls its biosimilar drug Mvasi.