ZYMOGENETICS SUES BMS OVER ORENCIA

Seattle-based biotechnology company ZymoGenetics has filed a patent suit against Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), asking the court to halt sales of BMS' rheumatoid arthritis drug Orencia because it infringes on certain technology patents owned by ZymoGenetics. In the suit, filed Aug. 14 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, ZymoGenetics said Orencia (abatacept) violates patents on ZymoGenetics' fusion protein technique, which uses recombinant DNA technology to combine a portion of an antibody with a portion of a second protein.

Orencia has generated $23 million in sales since its launch in February, according to BMS. Analysts expect the product -- the company's first internally developed biologic -- to achieve sales of more than $1 billion by 2010.

BMS spokesman Tony Plohoros said the company is aware of the lawsuit and is reviewing it, along with its legal options.

In December 2002, ZymoGenetics settled a similar suit by granting Amgen and Wyeth licenses for the protein technology. The agreement terminated a lawsuit filed in March 2002 against Immunex (now owned by Amgen) that alleged its rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel (etanercept) violated the patents.