Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade Patent Invalidated

Johnson & Johnson announced on Feb. 12, 2015 that the company had received a notice of further action from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) that PTO re-examined and rejected US Patent No. 6,284,471 (‘471) relating to Remicade (infliximab). The company has 60 days to respond to PTO. J&J stated in a press release that the patent, which expires in September 2018, is valid and the company will appeal the rejection.

A revocation of the patent could be good news for Hospira’s biosimilar Inflectra (infliximab), which is approved for use in Central and Eastern Europe and just received approval for use in West Europe.  Celltrion, a partner of Hospira, also has a biosimilar version of infliximab, Remsima, which is currently being reviewed for use in the United States by FDA. 

Source: Johnson & Johnson