Ariad rises on rehearing for drug patent case

Associated Press

Shares of Ariad Pharmaceuticals jumped after a federal court agreed to reconsider whether drugmaker Eli Lilly infringed several drug patents worth millions of dollars.

Cambridge-based Ariad said the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has agreed to rehear a patent infringement case that was awarded in the company's favor but was then reversed in April.

In 2006, a US District Court jury in Boston awarded Ariad and three co-plaintiffs about $62.5 million. Ariad and its partners accused Eli Lilly of infringing a patent that covers any medical treatment targeting the body's molecular pathway called NF-kappa B. The specific Eli Lilly drugs at issue included the osteoporosis drug Evista and sepsis treatment Xigris.

But in April the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed that decision, saying that four of the patent claims used to support Ariad's case were invalid because of inadequate written description.

On Monday, Ariad said all twelve judges of the court will now rehear and reassess the merits of Lilly's appeal.

Shares of Ariad rose 15 cents, or 7 percent, to $2.27 in morning trading.