NYC Judge: Patent belongs to 3 Israelis (Erbitux)

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"In a blow to ImClone Systems Inc. and a triumph for a prominent Israeli research institution, a judge ruled Monday that three scientists from Israel are the true inventors of a process used in the delivery of the blockbuster cancer drug, Erbitux.

U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald directed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to replace seven names now on the controversial patent with those of Professor Michael Sela, Dr. Esther Aboud-Pirak and Dr. Esther Hurwitz. The three scientists made the pioneering cancer discovery at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehobot, Israel, in the late 1980s.

In a 140-page opinion, Buchwald indicated it was not a close call because the events described by the researchers and their experts were "strongly corroborated" by documents, while the version presented by the defendants was not. She also found that the plaintiffs' witnesses were, "as a whole, far more credible than the defendant's witnesses."

Lawyers had predicted the case could significantly affect the future of Erbitux, a colon-cancer treatment drug made by ImClone, the company whose founder, Sam Waksal, is serving a prison sentence for his role in the stock scandal that also ensnared Martha Stewart. The ruling means the company will lose exclusive rights to the process used to deliver the drug. Its patent had been due to expire in 2017.

Erbitux is ImClone's only commercially available drug. As of the date of the trial, the company had received about $900 million in revenue under its distribution agreement in the U.S. with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co."

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15551601.htm

[MadMaddie]

1. I guess in this environment they thought that they could

steal the idea and make millions....well good for the three Israeli Scientist....they did the hard work they deserve to reap the benefits of their hardwork....

I guess if this is ImClone's only product....then they have serious problems.....

[Name removed]

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[acmavm]

3. Anybody have any idea of how much money the feds subsidize

the pharma companies with for research?

We pay a lot of the expenses for the research, or so I understand. And they pharma companies rake in the profits.

[MrPrax]

4. Bothers me too...

If 'standing on the shoulder's of giants' was good enough for Sir Isaac Newton, then it should be good for rest of us. One of the dreams of humanity from time immoral is a 'cure' to heal the sick -- too bad as a speciies we stand NOT on the shoulder's of giants, but stand at an abyss worrying about whether 'moneylenders' will be happy.