Expert opinion on damages in patent dispute involving antibody technologies for rare disease drug

Dr. Gregory Bell, head of CRA’s Life Sciences Practice, provided expert testimony in a high-profile patent infringement case involving antibody technologies used in drugs to treat rare diseases. Dr. Bell opined on the reasonable royalty owed to Chugai Pharmaceutical, a member of the Roche Group, in its dispute with Alexion Pharmaceuticals, since acquired by AstraZeneca. Chugai claimed that Alexion infringed patents relating to the use of recycling antibody technologies in the commercialization of Alexion’s drug Ultomiris in the US. Following multiple expert reports and depositions, the parties settled on the eve of trial. As part of the settlement, Alexion agreed to pay Chugai a lump-sum amount of $775 million to resolve the patent issues.