Revived: $176.5M Patent Verdict Leaves Lilly to Evaluate Options

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Thursday reinstated the $176.5 million verdict that Teva won in 2022, reviving its claim that Eli Lilly’s migraine drug Emgality infringes Ajovy’s method patents.

Teva filed the suit in 2018, accusing Lilly of infringing patents covering methods of using anti-CGRP antagonist antibodies to treat migraines. The two drugs were approved just 13 days apart in September 2018 and work by blocking calcitonin gene-related peptides tied to migraine headaches. A federal jury in Boston sided with Teva in 2022.

Then Judge Allison Burroughs of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts reversed that verdict in 2023. She agreed with Lilly that Emgality’s antibody differed from Ajovy’s and that Teva’s patent claims were overbroad.

The Federal Circuit reversed her. The appeals court found Teva’s patents covered the use of anti-CGRP antagonist antibodies to treat headaches, not the antibody class itself — a narrower reading that validated the infringement theory. The court found Lilly’s remaining arguments “unpersuasive” and remanded for further proceedings.

Lilly called the outcome disappointing and said it’s “evaluating all available options.” The company noted the decision doesn’t affect Emgality’s availability to patients.

Teva called the ruling a validation of its intellectual property.

Lilly can seek rehearing before the Federal Circuit or file a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court. Either move will determine whether the $176.5 million verdict holds.

— James Okafor