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Litigation | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2022
Loss Contingency, Information about Litigation Matters [Abstract] |
Litigation |
Note 21: | 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 these consolidated financial statements. 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. If an estimate of the possible loss or range of loss can be made at this time, it is included in the potential loss contingency description below. 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 ADUHELM Securities Litigation We and certain current and former officers are named as defendants in actions filed by shareholders in November 2020 (the November 2020 Securities Action) and February 2022 (the February 2022 Securities Action) and pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The actions allege violations of federal securities laws under 15 U.S.C §78j(b) and §78t(a) and 17 C.F.R. §240.10b-5 and seek declarations of the actions as class actions and monetary relief. In September 2022, the court dismissed the November 2020 Securities Action, and the plaintiff has appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Our motion to dismiss the February 2022 Securities Action is pending. Shareholder Derivative Actions We and members of the Board of Directors are named as defendants in derivative actions filed by shareholders on February 9 and July 21, 2022, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The actions allege violations of federal securities laws under 15 U.S.C. §78n(a) and 17 C.F.R. §240 14.a-9, breaches of fiduciary duties and waste of corporate assets, and seek declaratory and injunctive relief, monetary relief payable to Biogen, and attorneys’ fees and costs payable to the plaintiffs. The court has stayed both cases. 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 and proceedings against Biogen GmbH in the Düsseldorf Regional Court, alleging that IMRALDI, the adalimumab biosimilar product of Samsung Bioepis that Biogen commercializes in Europe, infringes national counterparts of European Patent No. 3 148 510 (the EP '510 Patent). In June 2022 Fresenius Kabi amended both actions to assert claims under European Patent 3 145 488 (the EP ‘488 Patent), which expires in May 2035. No hearing has been set in either action. In June 2022 the Technical Boards of Appeal (TBA) of the European Patent Office (EPO) affirmed the revocation of the EP '510 Patent, which resolves all pending infringement claims under the EP '510 Patent. The EPO upheld the validity of the EP '488 Patent in October 2022. In June 2020 Fresenius Kabi commenced preliminary injunction proceedings in Denmark's Maritime and Commercial High Court alleging that IMRALDI infringes the Danish counterpart of the EP '488 Patent and a corresponding Danish utility model, DK 2020 00038 Y3. In September 2021 the Court refused Fresenius Kabi's request for a preliminary injunction and Fresenius Kabi has withdrawn its appeal. In July 2019 Gedeon Richter Nyrt commenced proceedings for damages and injunctive relief against Biogen GmbH in the Düsseldorf Regional Court, alleging infringement of the German counterpart of European Patent No. 3 212 667 (the EP '667 Patent), which expires in October 2035. The case has been stayed pending Gedeon Richter's appeal to the TBA of the revocation of the patent. A hearing has been set by the TBA for July 2023. In November 2020 Gedeon Richter Nyrt commenced proceedings against Biogen GmbH in the Düsseldorf Regional Court alleging infringement of a German utility model corresponding to EP '667. The proceeding has been stayed pending the outcome of proceedings that Biogen has filed in the German Patent and Trademark Office to cancel the utility model, and in which a hearing has been set for March 2023. Dispute with Former Convergence Shareholders In 2015 Biogen acquired Convergence, a UK company. In November and December 2019 Shareholder Representative Services LLC, on behalf of the former shareholders of Convergence, sent us correspondence asserting claims of $200.0 million for alleged breach of the contract under which we acquired Convergence. We dispute the claims. ERISA Class Action Litigation In September 2020 the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts consolidated two cases filed against us in July and August 2020 by participants in the Biogen 401(k) Savings Plan, alleging breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA. Plaintiffs seek a declaration of the action as a class action and monetary and other relief. Humana Patient Assistance Litigation In September 2021 Humana Inc. (Humana) filed suit against us in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, alleging damages related to our providing MS patients with free medications and making charitable contributions to non-profit organizations that assist MS patients. Humana alleges violation of the federal RICO Act and state laws and seeks statutory treble damages, attorneys' fees and costs. We filed a motion to dismiss, which is pending. Distributor Matter In December 2022 we terminated our distribution agreement with the distributor of products for Biogen in various countries in the Middle East and northern Africa. The former distributor has asserted breach of contract. No suit has been filed. Other Matters Government Investigations The company has received subpoenas from the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking information relating to ADUHELM, including healthcare sites and ADUHELM's approval. In 2021 the U.S. House of Representatives Committees on Oversight and Reform and Energy (House Committees) and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) each announced investigations related to ADUHELM. In December 2022 the House Committees issued a report on their investigation. TYSABRI Patent Matters In September 2022 we filed an action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware against Sandoz Inc. and Polpharma Biologics S.A. under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act, 42 U.S.C. §262, seeking a declaratory judgment of patent infringement. No trial date has been set. In December 2022 the TBA affirmed the revocation of our European Patent 2 676 967 (the EP '967 Patent), covering pre-treatment testing of patients using natalizumab (TYSABRI). In September 2021 Polpharma Biologics S.A., Sandoz AG, Sandoz Limited and Sandoz GmbH filed an action in the English High Court to revoke the U.K. counterpart of the EP ‘967 Patent. No trial date has been set. Annulment Proceedings in the General Court of the European Union relating to TECFIDERA Pharmaceutical Works Polpharma SA (Polpharma) and Mylan Ireland Ltd. (Mylan Ireland) each filed actions in the General Court of the European Union (Polpharma in October 2018 and Mylan Ireland in November 2020) to annul the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) decision not to validate their applications to market generic versions of TECFIDERA on the grounds that TECFIDERA benefits from regulatory data protection. On May 5, 2021, the European General Court annulled the EMA's non-validation decision with respect to Polpharma. The European Court of Justice will announce its decision in our appeal of this decision on March 16, 2023. The case brought by Mylan Ireland has been stayed. 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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