Benzinga | May 17, 2021 04:37PM EDT

Supreme Court Rebuffs Novartis Appeal Over Amgen's Arthritis Drug Enbrel: Report

* The Supreme Court turned away a petition from Sandoz seeking to challenge two Amgen Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN) patents related to rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel, thus blocking Novartis AG's (NYSE: NVS) Sandoz from selling a biosimilar of the drug in the U.S. until 2029.

* The justices turned away Novartis subsidiary Sandoz Inc's appeal of a lower court decision that upheld the validity of the patents. The case involves the active ingredient in Enbrel.

* Enbrel is Amgen's top-selling drug, accounting for nearly $5 billion of the company's $24.2 billion in product sales for 2020. Enbrel was launched in 1998 by Immunex Corp, which Amgen acquired in 2002.

* Erelzi is available in Europe, where it helped contribute to a 20% increase in revenue sales for the Sandoz unit last year, Novartis said in its annual report.

* Sandoz got regulatory approval in 2016 to sell biosimilar dubbed Erelzi, Immunex sued for patent infringement.

* "Today's decision means Erelzi, a more affordable biosimilar, will not be available to U.S. patients with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases until 2029," Keren Haruvi, president of Sandoz US, said in a statement.

* Amgen said it was pleased the Supreme Court denied Sandoz's petition, "finally bringing this dispute to an end."

* Price Action: AMGN shares closed 0.40% higher at $252.38, and NVS shares closed 0.46% lower at $88.55 on Monday.