Partial Win for AmCell in Patent Lawsuit

A federal district court judge in Delaware awarded AmCell Corp. a partial summary judgment in a patent infringement suit filed by Nexell Therapeutics Inc. in March 2000, over rival cell-separation devices.

Judge Rodrick McKelvie told AmCell, a U.S. affiliate of Germany’s Miltenyi Biotec GmbH, that it could use its CliniMACS device for research that the Food and Drug Administration decides is reasonably related to efforts aimed at obtaining regulatory approval, Nexell said Tuesday in a press release.

Nexell, an Irvine biotechnology company, said the decision doesn’t cover key elements of its suit and that core patents for its own device, Isolex 300i, aren’t affected. Nexell has said CliniMACS infringes on critical technology used in Isolex.

Nexell also said it can seek relief if AmCell is found to conduct research not aimed at obtaining regulatory approval. Nexell’s stock rose 10 cents a share to $1.77 in Nasdaq trading.