The Wall Street Journal-20080204-Roche Seeks Way to Sell Anemia Drug

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Roche Seeks Way to Sell Anemia Drug

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Roche Holding AG is seeking a U.S. judge's clearance to sell an anemia treatment in the U.S. by offering a royalty to Amgen Inc. and proposing a selling price that is less than what Amgen charges for its top anemia drug.

Roche, of Basel, Switzerland, won U.S. regulatory approval for Mircera as a treatment for anemia associated with kidney disease in November. But it hasn't brought the drug to market in the U.S. because a federal jury in October found Mircera violated patents held by Amgen. Mircera went on sale in Europe last year.

Although Roche lost the patent trial, it sought permission from Judge William Young in Boston to bring Mircera to market by arguing that it would serve the public interest. Judge Young asked Roche to make a proposal to that effect. In a court filing Jan. 28, Roche proposed paying a royalty that is about double what Johnson & Johnson currently pays in order to market a version of one of Amgen's anemia drugs. (J&J pays Amgen a royalty to market Procrit, a version of Amgen's Epogen.)

Amgen isn't swayed. In a statement, the Thousand Oaks, Calif., company said: "Roche's product and marketing proposals confer no clinical benefit, serve no public interest and would actually increase the cost of treatment to Medicare, especially in the short term. Roche's belated royalty proposal is grossly inadequate to compensate Amgen for Roche's infringement and lacks any merit."

A ruling is pending on a request by Amgen for a permanent injunction to prevent Roche from selling the drug in the U.S.

J&J declined to comment.