Amgen announced that the United States (US) District Court in Boston has entered final judgment and a permanent injunction against Roche prohibiting Roche from infringing Amgen's patents on recombinant erythropoietin (EPO), thus bringing the five-year patent infringement dispute to an end.

This judgment was accompanied by Roche's admission that the five Amgen EPO patents involved in the lawsuit are valid, enforceable and infringed by Roche's pegylated-erythropoietin (peg-EPO) product, Mircera and by Amgen allowing Roche to begin selling Mircera in the US in mid-2014 under terms of a limited license agreement. The settlement terms do not include any financial payments between the parties.

"We are very pleased with this agreement, a victory for Amgen that reaffirms the validity of our patents and brings to an end this long-standing legal dispute," said David Scott, senior vice president and general counsel for Amgen. "The settlement provides certainty to both companies and allows Amgen to focus intently on investing in innovative research and delivering medicines that treat grievous, unmet medical needs."

Amgen discovers, develops, manufactures and delivers innovative human therapeutics. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen was one of the first companies to realize the new science's promise by bringing safe and effective medicines from lab, to manufacturing plant, to patient.