ZymoGenetics Sues Bristol-Myers Squibb in Patent Dispute

ZymoGenetics (Seattle, WA, www.zymogenetics.com) has sued Bristol-Myers Squibb (New York, NY, www.bms.com) over alleged infringement of ZymoGentics’s fusion-protein technology patents. ZymoGenetics filed the lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Delaware and is seeking injunctive relief and damages.

“We have a number of patents on fusion-protein technology, which we believe are being infringed by Bristol-Myers Squibb,” said Bruce L.A. Carter, PhD, president and chief executive officer of ZymoGenetics. “It is important that ZymoGenetics protect its intellectual property rights for technology that it expended significant resources in developing, and we will enforce our patents through litigation when necessary.”

Amgen (Thousand Oaks, CA, www.amgen.com) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (Tarrytown, NY, www.regeneron.com) previously have licensed ZymoGenetics’s fusion-protein patents.

Further details about the lawsuit were not provided. At press time, Bristol-Myers Squibb had not commented on the lawsuit.