J&J wins $1.67 billion in Abbott patent case

Centocor Ortho Biotech, a unit of Johnson & Johnson, has been awarded a whopping $1.67 billion in a patent infringement suit against Abbott Laboratories.

The patent in question relates to the company's anti-TNF class of arthritis treatments, and is co-owned by New York University and Centocor, for which Centocor is the exclusive licensee.

Abbott’s Humira (adalimumab) competes with Centocor’s Remicade (infliximab) – both multi-billion-dollar drugs, with Humira racking up $4.5 billion in revenues last year. Abbott believes the patent in question is invalid as it does not cover the human antibodies used to make Humira and says it will appeal the decision, which amounts to $1.17 billion in lost profits for “willfully” infringing the patent plus $504 million in royalties. Centocor had been looking for damages of $2.1 billion.