A unit of drugmaker Johnson & Johnson says a federal jury has returned a $1.67 billion verdict against Abbott Laboratories in a patent infringement suit over the companies' rheumatoid arthritis drugs.
Abbott's best-selling drug, Humira, competes with the drug Remicade, made by Centocor, a unit of New Brunswick, N.J.-based J&J. Centocor and New York University had filed a patent infringement suit against Abbott Park, Ill.-based Abbott in April 2007 in the Eastern District of Texas.
Abbott spokesman Scott Stoffel says the company is "disappointed in this verdict," and confident it will "prevail on appeal."
Humira has been key to Abbott's success story in recent years, racking up approvals for half a dozen uses, including psoriasis and Crohn's disease. Abbott booked $4.5 billion in Humira sales in 2008.
by the associated press
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