St. Jude and Juno secure $12.25 million settlement resolving patent dispute with Novartis Pharmaceuticals and University of Pennsylvania

Client(s) St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Jones Day represented St. Jude Children's Research Hospital ("St. Jude") in enforcing breach of contract claims and defending patent invalidity claims against the University of Pennsylvania ("Penn") and Novartis Pharmaceuticals ("Novartis"). The matter involved St. Jude's groundbreaking genetically-engineered "chimeric antigen receptor" which provides the basis for a novel form of immunotherapy. This therapy aims to treat certain forms of blood cancer by programming a patient's own immune cells (T-cells) to attack and kill cancerous cells. The dispute initially arose over a breach of Material Transfer Agreements between St. Jude and Penn and ultimately involved an attack upon a patent issued to St. Jude related to the transferred biological materials. Under the settlement agreement, Novartis will pay $12.25 million and royalties to St. Jude's licensee Juno Therapeutics Inc., in exchange for a license to continue to research, develop, and commercialize therapies subject to the patent.

Trustees of The University of Pennsylvania v. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Civil Action No. 2:13-cv-01502 (E.D. Pa.)