Blue Whale News, September 12th (Reporter Tu Jun) Following the patent infringement lawsuit filed by AbbVie in June last year regarding its core product BTK inhibitor Baiyueze (Zebutinib Capsules), it has been reported that pharmaceutical giant AbbVie once again sued BeiGene last Friday. The former sued BeiGene in the Federal Court of Chicago, accusing it of stealing trade secrets to develop competitive anti-cancer therapies after hiring a former senior scientist from AbbVie.
It is reported that the above-mentioned project includes the compound BGB-16673 independently discovered by BeiGene researchers through years of innovative research.
On August 27th, BeiGene announced that the US FDA has granted BGB-16673 fast track eligibility for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) who have previously received at least two lines of treatment, including BTK inhibitors and BCL2 inhibitors. BGB-16673 is an orally administered, BTK targeted chimeric degradation activating compound (CDAC) under development.
BeiGene has stated to Blue Whale Finance that it will provide a firm defense against the allegations made by AbbVie. BeiGene denies this accusation and will firmly defend its intellectual property rights against the lawsuit.
We believe that the lawsuit intends to impede the development process of BGB-16673, which is currently the fastest progressing BTK degradation agent in clinical development. BeiGene had already applied for a patent for BGB-16673 several years before AbbVie first applied for a BTK degradation agent patent BeiGene said.
So far, over 300 patients from 15 countries and regions have received treatment in the BGB-16673 global clinical development project.
BeiGene stated that the focus on advancing the BGB-16673 development project will not be interrupted by this lawsuit, and the drug has the potential to become an important treatment option for patients with disease progression and limited choices after using BTK inhibitors.
Affected by the news, BeiGene's A-shares fell 10.61% today (September 12th) to HKD 144.01 per share, while Hong Kong stocks fell 5.44% to HKD 118.3 per share.