Goodwin Wins High-Stakes Life Sciences Patent Trial for United Therapeutics Corporation

Goodwin secured a significant trial victory for United Therapeutics Corporation (United Therapeutics) in Hatch-Waxman patent litigation against Liquidia Technologies involving treatments for pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD).

The litigation arose against the backdrop of United Therapeutics’ groundbreaking INCREASE clinical trial with inhaled treprostinil. Prior to INCREASE, there were no FDA-approved treatments for PH-ILD. INCREASE led to the approval of United Therapeutics’ innovative inhaled treprostinil products, TYVASO® and TYVASO DPI®, for PH-ILD. After Liquidia Technologies sought approval for a competing, follow-on inhaled treprostinil product called YUTREPIA®, United Therapeutics filed suit for patent infringement in 2023. In 2025, Liquidia Technologies commercially launched YUTREPIA® “at risk” while the litigation was still pending. 

The case presented complex patent and scientific issues with significant commercial stakes for both parties. Following a four-day bench trial, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware ruled that Liquidia Technologies’ YUTREPIA® product infringed claims of United Therapeutics’ patent and rejected challenges to the validity of the infringed claims. The parties subsequently executed a settlement in which Liquidia Technologies agreed to immediately stop marketing YUTREPIA® for PH-ILD in the United States through the end of the patent term and pay United Therapeutics $380.7 million in monetary damages. This result was a clear and resounding victory for United Therapeutics, whose market capitalization has risen more than $4 billion (20%) in the wake of the Court’s decision.

The victory highlights Goodwin’s experience trying complex, high-stakes patent cases for Life Sciences innovators.

The Goodwin team was led by William Jackson and included partners Eric Romeo, Katie Cheng, and Louis Lobel, associates Gabriel Ferrante, Adam Horowitz, Harry Gunn, Maggie Peña, Bukie Ayetiwa, and Darlene Staines, and science advisor Lihui Bai.

For more information, please read the court documents.