Amgen Loses Bid to Block Import of Rival Drug

An administrative law judge has allowed drug maker Roche Holding Ltd. to continue to import an experimental anemia drug at the center of a patent fight between Roche and Amgen Inc., the companies said Friday.

The judge at the U.S. International Trade Commission has determined that Roche can import its experimental drug peg-EPO, also known as Cera, under an exception for clinical trials, the companies said.

Thousand Oaks-based Amgen had requested that the commission prohibit Roche from importing the drug, which is not yet approved, to the United States.

Switzerland-based Roche said the decision cleared the way for it to focus on obtaining approval from the Food and Drug Administration to sell the drug.

Amgen, the world’s biggest biotechnology company, is trying to stave off competition from Cera, which could rival Amgen’s anemia drug Epogen. Amgen earned $6 billion last year from sales of Epogen and a related version called Aranesp.

Roche argues that Cera does not infringe Amgen’s patent because it is linked to a chemical that makes it last longer in the body than Epogen.

Amgen is fighting Roche before the commission and in U.S. District Court in Boston. Amgen said the commission’s ruling had no effect on the suit.

Amgen stock rose 45 cents to $66.39.