UK Supreme Court Refuses to ‘Water Down’ Sufficiency Requirement

Regeneron has lost a significant battle in its fight with Kymab over patents for transgenic mice. In a 4-1 split decision today, the UK Supreme Court found the patents invalid for insufficiency, reversing the decision of the Court of Appeal. (Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc v Kymab Ltd. [2020] UKSC 27.) Regeneron had sued Cambridge, UK-based Kymab, alleging that the latter’s Kymouse transgenic mouse platform infringed two patents (EP 1,360,287 and EP 2,264,163) also known as the Murphy patents). The two patents at issue cover Regeneron’s VelocImmune platform, which is used to produce antibodies for treating diseases, including COVID-19. In February 2016, following a trial in the High Court, Mr Justice Henry Carr revoked the patents for insufficiency. However, in March 2018 the Court of Appeal reversed that finding and found the patents to be infringed in a judgment written by Lord Justice Kitchin.

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