Vectura wins patent litigation battle against GSK, awarded $89.7M

Vectura has confirmed that it has won the US GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) patent litigation trial and has been awarded $89.7million in damages by the trial jury.

In July 2016, Vectura filed a patent infringement lawsuit against GSK claiming that sales of certain GSK Ellipta products infringed Vectura patents.

This is after the companies had entered into an agreement in 2010 under which GSK had taken a license to formulation technology covered by a Vectura patent family.

Following a jury trial in the US District Court for the District of Delaware, it was ruled that Vectura’s US patent 8303991 was found valid and infringed by US sales of three of GSK’s Ellipta products.

As a result, the jury awarded Vectura $89.7 million in damages for the period from August 2016 through December 2018, based on a calculation of 3% of US sales of these products.

James Ward-Lilley, chief executive officer of Vectura, commented: "Although we regret the need to take a longstanding partner to court, we are pleased with the jury’s verdict which confirms the validity of our intellectual property and the decision to progress this action with GSK. We will provide updates on this matter in due course."

The jury also found that GSK’s infringement was wilful, meaning that Vectura the right to seek enhanced damages. GSK has the option to appeal the decision.

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