HEALTH
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Genentech Wins Patent Suit: Genentech Inc. said a U.S. District Court in Delaware upheld a 1990 decision confirming the company’s patent rights to Activase, its flagship drug to combat heart disease, in a dispute with Wellcome Foundation Ltd. and Genetics Institute. The ruling is expected to have little impact on the South San Francisco firm’s business, since Wellcome and Genetics Institute no longer market their versions of the bioengineered anti-blood clotting drug. The decision “doesn’t change anything,” said a Genentech spokesman. “It just confirms the validity of our patent.” Genentech’s sales of the drug totaled $190 million last year.
