Amgen court hearing in patent lawsuit vs Sandoz over generic Prolia cancelled

Update 3:10pm: Adds shares, analyst comment.

A preliminary injunction hearing in an Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) patent lawsuit against Sandoz over potential generic entry of its Prolia and Xgeva drugs was cancelled. Amgen sharesrose almost 2%.

The court hearing in New Jersey was scheduled for today. A court official confirmed to Seeking Alpha that no hearing was taking place today. Sandoz is owned by Novartis (NYSE:NVS).

Amgen (AMGN) didn’t immediately respond to Seeking Alpha request for comment.

Amgen (AMGN) sued competitor Sandoz last May, claiming that its effort to enter the market for bone strengthening drugs infringed its patents for Prolia and Xgeva.

Prolia and Xgeva are important franchises for Amgen’s as they made up about 20% of the total revenue in 2022, according to a Morgan Stanley note from late October.

The hearing was set to discuss Motion 152, which is sealed, and a decision could be expected soon, a Jefferies analyst wrote in a note on Monday. The parties had been in ongoing litigation to delay the launch until next year.

“Based on our conversations with AMGN and Sandoz we don’t expect Sandoz to launch the biosimilar at risk ie they would likely wait until Feb 2025 when it is set to expire in the US,” the Jefferies analyst wrote in the note.