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Litigation | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2019
Loss Contingency, Information about Litigation Matters [Abstract] |
Litigation | Litigation We are currently involved in various claims and legal proceedings, including the matters described below. For information as to our accounting policies relating to claims and legal proceedings, including use of estimates and contingencies, please read Note 1, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to our consolidated financial statements included in our 2018 Form 10-K. With respect to some loss contingencies, an estimate of the possible loss or range of loss cannot be made until management has further information, including, for example, (i) which claims, if any, will survive dispositive motion practice; (ii) information to be obtained through discovery; (iii) information as to the parties' damages claims and supporting evidence; (iv) the parties’ legal theories; and (v) the parties' settlement positions. The claims and legal proceedings in which we are involved also include challenges to the scope, validity or enforceability of the patents relating to our products, pipeline or processes and challenges to the scope, validity or enforceability of the patents held by others. These include claims by third parties that we infringe their patents. An adverse outcome in any of these proceedings could result in one or more of the following and have a material impact on our business or consolidated results of operations and financial position: (i) loss of patent protection; (ii) inability to continue to engage in certain activities; and (iii) payment of significant damages, royalties, penalties and/or license fees to third parties. Loss Contingencies IMRALDI Patent Litigation In September 2018 Fresenius Kabi Deutschland GmbH (Fresenius Kabi) commenced proceedings for damages and injunctive relief against Biogen France SAS in the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris, alleging that IMRALDI, the adalimumab biosimilar product of Samsung Bioepis UK Limited that Biogen commercializes in Europe, infringes the French counterpart of European Patent No. 3 148 510 (the ‘510 Patent), which was issued in June 2018 and expires in May 2035. No hearing on the merits has been scheduled. In October 2018 Fresenius Kabi commenced preliminary injunction proceedings against Biogen (Denmark) Manufacturing ApS and Biogen Denmark A/S in Denmark's Maritime and Commercial High Court alleging infringement of the Danish Utility Models. In June 2019 the Danish court denied Fresenius Kabi's request for a preliminary injunction and Fresenius Kabi has appealed that decision. In November 2018 Fresenius Kabi commenced infringement proceedings for damages and injunctive relief against Biogen Italia S.R.L. in the District Court of Milan relating to the Italian counterpart of the ‘510 Patent, and against Biogen GmbH in the Düsseldorf Regional Court relating to the German counterpart of the ‘510 Patent. A hearing in the proceeding in Germany has been set for March 2020. No hearing on the merits has been scheduled. An estimate of the possible loss or range of loss in the above matters cannot be made at this time. In August 2018 Biogen Idec Ltd. (Biogen UK) and Samsung Bioepis UK Limited filed an action in the United Kingdom Patents Court to revoke the United Kingdom (U.K.) counterpart of the ‘510 Patent. Fresenius Kabi counterclaimed for infringement, damages and injunctive relief. In July 2019 the United Kingdom Patents Court entered a consent order in which it declared that the U.K. counterpart of the '510 Patent is invalid, ordered the patent revoked and dismissed Fresenius Kabi's counterclaims. In December 2018 Biogen B.V. and Samsung Bioepis UK Limited filed an action in the District Court of the Hague, Netherlands to revoke the Dutch counterpart of the ‘510 Patent. In September 2019 the parties entered an Agreement to Discontinue Proceedings wherein Fresenius Kabi declared the Dutch counterpart of the '510 Patent invalid and surrendered it in full. In July 2019 Gedeon Richter PLC commenced proceedings against Biogen GmbH in the Düsseldorf Regional Court alleging infringement of the German counterpart of European Patent No. 3 212 667 (the '667 Patent), which was issued in September 2018 and expires in October 2035, and seeking damages and injunctive relief. A hearing has been set for November 2020. An estimate of the possible loss or range of loss cannot be made at this time. In July 2019 Biogen Idec Ltd. (Biogen UK) and Samsung Bioepis UK Limited filed an action in the United Kingdom Patents Court to revoke the U.K. counterpart of the '667 Patent, and in August 2019 Biogen B.V. (Netherlands) and Samsung Bioepis UK Limited filed an action in the District Court of the Hague, Netherlands to revoke the Dutch counterpart of the '667 Patent. A hearing has been set for May 2020 in the Dutch matter and October 2020 in the U.K. matter. Qui Tam Litigation In July 2015 a qui tam action filed by Michael Bawduniak on behalf of the U.S. and certain states was unsealed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The action alleges sales and promotional activities in violation of the federal False Claims Act and state law counterparts and seeks single and treble damages, civil penalties, interest, attorneys’ fees and costs. Our motion to dismiss was denied in part. No trial date has been set. The U.S. has not made an intervention decision. An estimate of the possible loss or range of loss cannot be made at this time. In July 2018 we and certain other drug manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers were served with a qui tam action filed by John Borzilleri on behalf of the U.S. and certain states in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. The case was filed under seal in January 2014 and unsealed in April 2018 after the U.S. government declined to intervene. The case alleged agreements with pharmacy benefit managers in violation of the federal False Claims Act and state law counterparts and seeks single and treble damages, civil penalties, interest, attorneys' fees and costs. In September 2019 the court dismissed the action on the U.S. government's motion. Securities Litigation We and certain current and former officers were defendants in an action filed by a shareholder in October 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts alleging violations of federal securities laws under 15 U.S.C §78j(b) and §78t(a) and 17 C.F.R. §240.10b-5 and seeking a declaration of the action as a class action and an award of damages, interest and attorneys' fees. In June 2019 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the judgment dismissing the complaint with prejudice. Dismissed Shareholder Derivative Litigation On January 13, 2017, Mary Ann Mullaney, a Biogen shareholder, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware asserting derivative claims on behalf of Biogen against certain of the company’s current and former directors and officers alleging that those individuals (i) breached their fiduciary duties by failing to oversee the company’s operations, (ii) breached their fiduciary duties and Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and (iii) were unjustly enriched. The complaint sought unspecified damages, interest, attorneys’ fees and other costs. The parties filed a Joint Stipulation for Voluntary Dismissal and Proposed Order, which the court granted on August 6, 2019. Other Matters Hatch-Waxman Act Litigation relating to TECFIDERA Orange-Book Listed Patents In 2017, 2018 and 2019 we initiated patent infringement proceedings against multiple parties pursuant to the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, commonly known as the Hatch-Waxman Act, in the U.S. District Courts. Patent infringement proceedings pursuant to the Hatch-Waxman Act are pending against Accord Healthcare Inc., Alkem Laboratories Ltd., Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC, Aurobindo Pharma U.S.A., Inc., Banner Life Sciences LLC, Cipla Limited, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Graviti Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd., Hetero USA Inc., Lupin Atlantis Holdings SA, Macleods Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., MSN Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., Pharmathen S.A., Prinston Pharmaceutical Inc., Sandoz Inc., Sawai USA, Inc., Shilpa Medicare Limited, Slayback Pharma LLC, Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd., TWi Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Windlas Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. and Zydus Pharmaceuticals (USA) Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware and against Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia. A trial date has been set in the Delaware action against Banner Life Sciences LLC for March 2020. A trial date has been set for December 2019 in the other Delaware actions and a trial date has been set for February 2020 in the West Virginia action against Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. Petition for Inter Partes Review In July 2018 Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. filed a petition with the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) seeking inter partes review of our U.S. Patent No. 8,399,514 (the '514 Patent). The '514 Patent includes claims covering the treatment of MS with 480 mg of dimethyl fumarate per day as provided for in our TECFIDERA label. On February 6, 2019, the PTAB instituted inter partes review of the '514 Patent (the "Mylan IPR"). Thereafter, the PTAB granted the petition of Sawai USA, Inc. and Sawai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and joined them as petitioners in the Mylan IPR. A hearing has been scheduled for November 2019. European Patent Office Oppositions In 2016 the European Patent Office (EPO) revoked our European patent number 2 137 537 (the '537 Patent), which includes claims covering the treatment of MS with 480 mg of dimethyl fumarate as provided for in our TECFIDERA label. We have appealed to the Technical Boards of Appeal of the EPO and the appeal is pending. A hearing has been set for March 2020. In March 2018 the EPO revoked Forward Pharma’s European Patent No. 2 801 355, which expires in October 2025. Forward Pharma has filed an appeal to the Technical Boards of Appeal of the EPO and the appeal is pending. A hearing has been set for June 2020. The settlement and license agreement that we entered with Forward Pharma in January 2017 did not resolve the issues pending in this proceeding and we and Forward Pharma intend to permit the Technical Boards of Appeal and the Enlarged Board of Appeal, if applicable, to make a final determination. TYSABRI Patent Revocation Matters In November 2017 Bioeq GMBH, affiliated with the Polpharma Group, brought an action in the Polish Patent Office seeking to revoke Polish Patent Number 215263 (the Polish ‘263 Patent), the Polish patent corresponding to our European Patent Number 1 485 127 (the EU ‘127 Patent) (“Administration of agents to treat inflammation”). The Polish ‘263 Patent concerns administration of natalizumab (TYSABRI) to treat MS. The Polish ‘263 Patent expires in February 2023. No hearing on the merits has been set in this matter. Swiss Pharma International AG, also affiliated with the Polpharma Group, filed actions in the District Court of the Hague, Netherlands (January 2016), the German Patents Court (March 2016) and the Commercial Court of Rome (November 2017) seeking to invalidate the Dutch, German and Italian counterparts of the EU '127 Patent, which also concerns administration of natalizumab (TYSABRI) to treat MS and expires in February 2023. The Dutch and German counterparts were ruled invalid. The decision in the Dutch action was affirmed in September 2019 and our appeal as to the German action is pending. No date for a hearing on the merits has been set in the Italian action. '755 Patent Litigation In May 2010 Biogen MA Inc. (formerly Biogen Idec MA Inc.) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey alleging infringement by Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Bayer) (manufacturer, marketer and seller of BETASERON and manufacturer of EXTAVIA), EMD Serono, Inc. (EMD Serono) (manufacturer, marketer and seller of REBIF), Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer) (co-marketer of REBIF) and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. (Novartis) (marketer and seller of EXTAVIA) of our U.S. Patent No. 7,588,755 (the '755 Patent), which claims the use of interferon beta for immunomodulation or treating a viral condition, viral disease, cancers or tumors. The complaint seeks monetary damages, including lost profits and royalties. Bayer, Pfizer, Novartis and EMD Serono filed counterclaims seeking declaratory judgments of patent invalidity and non-infringement and seeking monetary relief in the form of costs and attorneys' fees. Bayer had previously filed a complaint against us in the same court, on May 27, 2010, seeking a declaratory judgment that it does not infringe the '755 Patent and that the '755 Patent is invalid, and seeking monetary relief in the form of attorneys' fees, costs and expenses. In September 2018 the trial court entered judgment against EMD Serono and Pfizer that the '755 Patent is infringed and valid and ordered a new trial on damages. In October 2018 EMD Serono and Pfizer filed an appeal from the judgment in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which is pending. The trial court has not yet scheduled the new damages trial or a trial against Bayer and Novartis. Government Matters We have learned that state and U.S. governmental authorities are investigating our sales and promotional practices and have received related subpoenas. We are cooperating with the investigation. We have also received subpoenas and other requests from the U.S. government for documents and information relating to our relationship with non-profit organizations that assist patients taking drugs sold by Biogen and the government has challenged some of our contributions to these organizations. We are cooperating with the investigation and have participated in preliminary discussions with the government regarding potential resolution of aspects of the matter. We have also received subpoenas and other requests from the U.S. government for documents and information relating to Biogen's co-pay assistance programs. We cooperated with the investigation and have received no communication from the government in this matter since December 2017. Tax Matter In the second quarter of 2018 the State Treasury of Goias, Brazil issued tax assessments for the period 2013 through February 2018 relating to tax on the circulation of goods and totaling approximately $70.0 million including interest and penalties. We dispute the assessments and have filed defenses with the Administrative Court of Appeals for the State of Goias, which are pending. We have not formed an opinion that an unfavorable outcome of the dispute is either probable or remote. Product Liability and Other Legal Proceedings We are also involved in product liability claims and other legal proceedings generally incidental to our normal business activities. While the outcome of any of these proceedings cannot be accurately predicted, we do not believe the ultimate resolution of any of these existing matters would have a material adverse effect on our business or financial condition.

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