Biotech news
Americas
Holland & Knight LLP has expanded its IP practice group with the hire of patent litigator Howard Suh as partner. 18 June 2014
Americas
Drug giant Merck is to acquire biopharmaceutical company Idenix for $24.50 per share, valuing the purchase at around $3.85 billion. 12 June 2014
Pharma
Law firm Dechert LLP has appointed Rüdiger Herrmann as a partner in its Frankfurt office. 10 June 2014
Biotech
Kite Pharma, a biotech company, has entered into a licensing agreement with the US’s National Institute of Health that will give it the IP rights to T-cell therapies developed to treat cancer. 9 June 2014
Americas
The new examination guidelines do not carry the weight of law, and it is not likely that their more extreme aspects will withstand judicial scrutiny, but practitioners need to keep tabs on court decisions, says Courtenay C. Brinckerhoff. 30 May 2014
Biotech
Justice Colin Birss has refused Roche’s biotechnology subsidiary Genentech the permission to appeal against an English High Court decision in which two patents covering its blockbuster breast cancer drug, Herceptin (trastuzumab), were revoked. 27 May 2014
Americas
With careful patent drafting and prosecution, it is possible to capture significant IP value in the clinically—and commercially—important area of biomarkers, says Stephanie Pilkington of Potter Clarkson. 30 April 2014
Asia
The USPTO has issued a patent to Israeli biotechnology company BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics, which covers stem cell technology that can be used in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. 24 March 2014
Biotech
Staff at the European Patent Office will hold seven days of strike action starting this week, it has been confirmed. 20 March 2014
Asia-Pacific
South Korean cancer vaccine maker KAEL-GemVax has appointed CPA Global as its IP management specialist. 13 March 2014