AbbVie Says BeiGene's Flagship Blood Cancer Drug Infringes Imbruvica Patent

BeiGene Ltd BGNE says it is aware that Pharmacyclics LLC has filed a complaint alleging that BeiGene's blood cancer therapy Brukinsa (zanubrutinib) infringes a Pharmacyclics patent issued on June 13, 2023. Pharmacyclics is an AbbVie Inc ABBV company.

As per a Bloomberg Law report, AbbVie filed a lawsuit against the China-based company alleging a patent violation related to Brukinsa.

"BeiGene's work is original, and we will vigorously defend against all allegations of patent infringement," the company said.

Imbruvica (ibrutinib) is a once-daily oral medication jointly developed and commercialized by Janssen Biotech Inc, a unit of Johnson & Johnson JNJ and Pharmacyclics.

BeiGene said that most recently, the ALPINE study, a head-to-head comparison between Brukinsa and Imbruvica in R/R CLL/SLL, demonstrated Brukinsa's superior efficacy (PFS and ORR) and safety (atrial fibrillation) over Imbruvica.

The study also reported zero sudden cardiac death events for Brukinsa versus a 1.9% rate for Imbruvica. 

Global sales of Brukinsa reached $211.4 million for Q1 2023, compared to $104.3 million a year ago.

Price Action: BGNE shares are down 0.37% at $207.36 on the last check Thursday.