• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Drug Delivery Business

  • Clinical Trials
  • Research & Development
  • Drug-Device Combinations
  • FDA
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Policy

Tribe taking steps to ‘ramp up’ drug patent business

May 22, 2018 By Sarah Faulkner

GavelThe Native American tribe wrapped up in litigation with generic pharmaceutical companies is trying to prove that its arrangement with Allergan (NYSE:AGN) reflects a legitimate move to boost its economy, according to court documents.

The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe of New York found itself it the middle of a controversial deal this year after it agreed to license the patents for a dry eye drug, Restasis, from Allergan in exchange for payments.

Both Allergan and the tribe have argued that the tribe’s sovereign immunity render the drug’s patents outside of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s power of review.

Generic pharma companies, including Mylan (NSDQ:MYL), condemned the deal and challenged it in federal court, saying that the arrangement revealed Allergan’s “duplicitousness” towards the patent system.

This week, the tribe argued that “contrary to Mylan’s suggestion that the tribe is simply collecting a check for immunity rental, the tribe has taken concrete steps to ramp up its patent business. This is an enormous task and the tribe has owned the Restasis patents only since September 2017, but the Tribe, through its collection of royalties from Allergan, now has the resources to implement its economic development plan.”

That plan includes developing new uses for cyclosporin and potential investments in other drugs, the tribe wrote.

The St. Regis Mohawk tribe received $13.8 million upfront from Allergan, according to court documents, and is slated to receive an additional $15 million each year as long as the deal is in place.

The tribe’s lawyer pointed out that this is not the first time companies have argued that Native Americans were attempting to circumvent the law.

“…when it began, Indian gaming was considered illegal by many, and the same protestations were made – that tribes needed to be stopped from flouting the law,” the tribe argued. “That view changed once it became clear that tribes were engaged in a legitimate effort to generate revenue and, as sovereigns, they had the choice whether to engage in gaming.”

In February, the USPTO declared that sovereign immunity does not shield tribes from patent challenges. Allergan and the tribe have since asked the Federal Circuit to intervene and stop the board from reviewing its Restasis IP.

Want to stay on top of DDBN content? Sign up for our e-mail newsletter for a weekly dose of drug-device news.

Filed Under: Featured, Legal News, Pharmaceuticals, Policy, Wall Street Beat Tagged With: Allergan, Mylan

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

  • Rapid Dose closes first tranche of $5M financing
  • Senseonics stock is up as it sticks by revenue guidance
  • MedAlliance wins second FDA IDE nod for drug-coated balloon
  • Wells Fargo downgrades Tandem amid rise of automated insulin delivery competition
  • FDA approves first targeted infusion therapy for HER2-low breast cancer

Primary Sidebar

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
Need Drug Delivery Business News in a minute? We Deliver!
Drug Delivery Enewsletters get you caught up on all the mission critical news you need in med tech. Sign up today.

Signup for the newsletter

Footer

Drug Delivery Business News Logo

MassDevice Medical NETWORK

MassDevice
DeviceTalks
Medical Tubing & Extrusion
Medical Design & Outsourcing
MedTech100 Index
Drug Discovery & Development
Pharmaceutical Processing World
Medical Design Sourcing
R&D World

DRUG DELIVERY BUSINESS NEWS

Subscribe to Drug Delivery’s E-Newsletter
Advertise with us
About
Contact us
Privacy
Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
Add us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterConnect with us on LinkedIn

Copyright © 2022 · WTWH Media LLC and its licensors. All rights reserved.
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media.

Advertise | Privacy Policy | RSS