Janssen Biotech Inc, in a document to the U.S. District Court of New
Jersey dated Friday and seen by Reuters, voluntarily dismissed its
suit to block Samsung Bioepis' biosimilar of Remicade from sale.
Remicade is Johnson & Johnson's biggest selling drug, with U.S.
sales of about $5 billion a year.
Janssen had filed the suit in May to investigate whether the South
Korean firm violated its manufacturing process patents.
The dismissal was "with prejudice," meaning Janssen is barred from
bringing a new case against Samsung Bioepis on the same basis.
A Janssen spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.
"Janssen's withdrawal of the lawsuit marks a positive step towards
improving patient access to biosimilars in the United States,"
Samsung Bioepis spokesman Mingi Hyun said on Tuesday.
[to top of second column] |
Merck & Co and Samsung Bioepis, part of South Korea's top
conglomerate Samsung Group, launched in July their less expensive
alternative version of Remicade, which is marketed as Renflexis in
the United States.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |