Bavarian Nordic Files Patent Infringement Suit Against Oxford BioMedica

Main Category: Medical Malpractice / Litigation
Article Date: 01 Jul 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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Bavarian Nordic has filed a patent infringement suit against Oxford BioMedica plc, Biomedica, Inc., and Oxford BioMedica Ltd., in the United States District Court of the Southern District of California.

Bavarian Nordic owns several United States patents relating to an attenuated strain of the company's core technology, MVA-BN®, which is the basis for its innovative smallpox vaccine, IMVAMUNE®. MVA-BN® also holds promise as a vector for delivering recombinant vaccines.

Bavarian Nordic asserts three patents as a basis for its infringement action, which are U.S. Patent No. 6,761,893, U.S. Patent No. 6,913,752 and U.S. Patent No. 7,335,364.

The claim in this case is that the defendants have infringed Bavarian Nordic's patents by commercializing the patented technology in ways that have yielded large payments from Sanofi-Aventis under the agreement between them for the development and commercialization of TroVax®.

The legal action versus Oxford BioMedica does not change Bavarian Nordic's previous announced financial guidance for 2008.

Anders Hedegaard, President & CEO of Bavaran Nordic, said: "The initiation of this infringement action is a necessary step to enforce our intellectual property rights. We have built a strong patent portfolio on the MVA technology, which we seek to utilize to expand and support our business through licensing agreements. However if these cannot be obtained, we will vigorously defend our IP position to prevent infringement."

About Bavarian Nordic:

Bavarian Nordic A/S is a leading industrial biotechnology company developing and producing novel vaccines for the treatment and prevention of life-threatening diseases with a large unmet medical need. The company's business strategy is focused in three areas: biodefence, cancer and infectious diseases. Bavarian Nordic's proprietary and patented technology MVA-BN® is one of the world's safest, multivalent vaccine vectors. Bavarian Nordic has ongoing contracts with the US government for the late-stage development and procurement of the company's third-generation smallpox vaccine, IMVAMUNE®.

Bavarian Nordic is listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange Copenhagen under the symbol BAVA.

www.bavarian-nordic.com