Premaitha wins right to appeal adverse patent judgement
Manchester-based biotech company Premaitha Health has won the right to appeal against an adverse judgement in its ongoing patent battle over the patent of its IONA prenatal test for Downs syndrome and other genetic disorders.
At a Form of Order hearing at the High Court yesterday (Tuesday, January 23), the judge accepted Premaitha’s right to attempt to overturn November’s judgement in favour of US company Illumina.
However, Premaitha was ordered to pay interim costs to Illumina of an amount in the region of £1.5m. This payment will be met from the escrow facility backed by Thermo Fisher announced on Monday. These costs will be repaid in the event that the appeal is successful.
Premaitha agreed to pay 10% of UK revenues earned from the hearing date into an escrow facility for the duration of the appeal cycle as a reasonable reserve for potential future damages if the appeal is unsuccessful.
Illumina had sought an immediate injunction against the IONA test in the UK but this was stayed until the resolution of the appeal.
Premaitha chief executive Dr Stephen Little said: “The court was refreshingly pragmatic in granting us leave to appeal all aspects of the November judgment, with which we still strongly disagree.
“We had anticipated an interim costs award and had taken steps to prepare the necessary facility to meet that, for which we are very appreciative of Thermo Fisher’s recent financial support.
“We anticipate the appeal cycle will take at least 12 months and the costs will be significantly lower than those we have incurred to date. We remain hopeful that the courts will in time agree with us on the patent issues at hand.
“We have attempted to engage Illumina into meaningful settlement discussions both before and since the November judgment.
“We will continue to pursue such discussions as we believe these are firmly in the best interests of patients, clinicians, the NHS and the companies involved. We are open to terms that are financially viable for us to offer IONA within the UK without the negative drag on the whole market that this litigation engenders.”
