Legal Experts Weigh In On The Amgen/Regeneron Patent Case

Following the Federal Court decision to grant the injunction request from Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) against the sale of Praluent, developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: REGN) and Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE: SNY), Wells Fargo’s Jim Birchenough mentioned that legal expert feedback suggests that a significant royalty would be payable on future Praluent sales, and the injunction might not be maintained after an appeal.

Birchenough maintains a Market Perform rating on Regeneron Pharma.

Legal Expert Feedback

“Overall, our expert suggests a high likelihood, estimated at 85 percent, that the Federal Circuit Court will stay the injunction to allow the parties to re-argue issues on appeal,” the analyst mentioned.

Legal expert feedback also suggested that Judge Robinson might have made a mistake in granting the injunction, and although injunctions are usually left to the discretion of lower courts and are not usually overturned, the Federal Circuit was likely to “freeze” the injunction and send it back to Judge Robinson for a more thought out and thorough opinion.

“Specific issues with Judge Robinson’s ruling, raised by our legal expert team, include issues related to the question of irreparable harm, ‘remedies at law,’ balance of hardship, and the public interest,” Birchenough stated.

Although the overall legal expert feedback was more favorable for Regeneron Pharma, the analyst expects an overhang to persist on the stock until a final resolution is reached.