AbbVie Win on Humira Patent Portfolio Thwarts Antitrust Attacks

The Seventh Circuit’s ruling that AbbVie Inc.‘s extensive patent portfolio covering its Humira arthritis treatment is not anti-competitive suggests antitrust challenges against such groups of patents won’t loosen the pharmaceutical industry’s grip on blockbuster name-brand drugs.

The decision leaves competitors who want to offer biosimilar drugs—cheaper versions of complex treatments made from living cells— or others hoping for easier access with lengthier and more expensive options. They can either challenge the validity of individual patents or try to prove invalid patents have been asserted in bad faith.

“The Humira decision shows how hard it is for anyone to thread ...