By Brendan Pierson
(Reuters) -Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen unit has sued Amgen Inc over its plan to market a drug for ulcerative colitis and other conditions similar to J&J’s Stelara, saying it would infringe two patents in a lawsuit made public on Wednesday.
Stelara is J&J’s top-selling drug, accounting for $9.1 billion of the company’s $52 billion in global drug sales last year. Sales for the first nine months of this year were $7.3 billion, up 7.9% over the same period last year.
The drug is also approved to treat Crohn’s disease, the skin condition psoriasis and a related form of arthritis. It is a biologic drug, meaning it is made inside living cells.
A 2009 law allows companies to make so-called biosimilar versions of biologic drugs that can be substituted for them, much like generic versions of conventional drugs. However, J&J alleges that Amgen failed to follow the legal process required by that law for the companies to litigate any patent disputes.
If Amgen launches its drug, J&J said it would infringe J&J’s patent on the drug’s active ingredient and on its use for treating ulcerative colitis.
Amgen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
