Shield Therapeutics PLC (LON:STX) has said it will continue to “robustly defend” its intellectual property (IP) after receiving notice that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd had appealed a ruling by the European Patent Office (EPO) regarding STX’s Feraccru iron deficiency treatment.
The news followed an EPO decision in March when it found in favour of Shield in relation to patent #2 668 175, which covers a "Process for preparing an iron hydroxypyrone".
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Shield said no date for the appeal hearing had yet been set but it believed the initial EPO decision would be upheld and would update on proceedings as required.
In a note, analysts at Shield’s ‘house’ broker Peel Hunt said appeals of this kind were “typical” of the generics industry and the original decision and breadth of the Feraccru patent provided significant defensibility for the company’s IP.
In early trading on Monday, Shield shares were 7% lower at 106p.
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