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Big Molecule Watch
October 14, 2016

Amgen v. Hospira (epoetin alfa): District Court Lets in New Infringement Theories, Not New Defendants

As we previously reported, Amgen has sought to amend its complaint regarding Hospira’s planned epoetin alfa biosimilar to add three new defendants and two theories of infringement.  On October 3, 2016, Judge Andrews granted-in-part and denied-in-part Amgen’s motion.  First, the court denied Amgen’s request to add three defendants because “[i]t would be unreasonable to expect the three of them to be ready for trial a year from now,” and such an amendment would cause delay that prejudiced Hospira. The court, however, granted Amgen’s request to add two new infringement theories, “but only as against [Hospira].”  The court reasoned that “the two ‘new’ theories are based mostly on the same facts that would already have been the subject of discovery” and therefore were unlikely to delay the case.