Judge adds $10m in damages in Vectura-GSK patent spat

This article has been updated with a statement from Glaxo Smith Kline.

A federal judge in Delaware has awarded British inhaler company Vectura an additional $10.5 million in compensatory damages from Glaxo Smith Kline (NYSE:GSK) in a patent dispute.

In May, a jury awarded Vectura $89.7 million in damages for the period from August 2016 through December 2018 for an infringement on Vectura’s U.S. patent 8303991 by sales of three of GlaxoSmithKline’s Ellipta products. The jury based the $89.7 million on ongoing royalties of 3% on U.S. sales of those products.

In June, Vectura petitioned the court to boost total compensatory damages by 33.3% to an effective royalty rate of 4%, or more than $33.4 million for the period from August 1, 2016, through May 16, 2019. U.S. sales of Ellipta products were $93 million higher in Q1 2019 than the corresponding quarter in 2016, and sales have totaled nearly $3.3 billion since July 2016, according to Vectura.

Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Andrews awarded Vectura the additional $10.5 million, based on actual sales made during the supplemental period and the 3% royalty rate used by the jury. Andrews also extended the compensation period through 2021, when Vectura’s patent expires. He denied Vectura’s motion for attorney’s fees.

“The judge’s post-motions ruling further validates Vectura’s original decision to pursue this action with GSK,” said Vectura CFO and interim CEO in a news release. “We will always take action to protect and defend our intellectual property and we will provide further updates on this matter in due course.”

GSK told Drug Delivery Business News that it continues to believe that it lived up to its licensing agreements in the case.

“We are reviewing the recent decisions and are considering all options, including appeal,” the company said in an email. “This case was unrelated to the safety, efficacy, quality or availability of GSK’s Anoro, Breo and Incruse Ellipta products.”