Another Patent Suit Filed Over Cancer Drug

Chiron Corp. filed another patent infringement lawsuit against rival biotechnology company Genentech Inc. related to Genentech’s breast cancer drug Herceptin, according to a federal filing.

The suit, filed in March, claims Genentech’s manufacture and sale of Herceptin violates a U.S. patent Chiron holds. Genentech filed a motion to dismiss the suit, and the court will hear the motion May 21, Genentech said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Chiron sued Genentech in June over Herceptin, Genentech’s second biggest-selling drug. In that suit, Chiron claims Herceptin is made using antibodies for which Chiron was granted a patent in April 2000. That case is scheduled to go to trial in June 2002.

Officials for Chiron, based in Emeryville, Calif., couldn’t be reached to comment. A spokeswoman for Genentech, based in South San Francisco, didn’t have an immediate comment.

Herceptin had $276 million in sales last year, making it second to Rituxan, which generated $444 million and is co-marketed by Genentech and Idec Pharmaceuticals Corp.