Harbour BioMed Secures Landmark Victory in U.S. Patent Infringement Case Against Amgen, Jury Awards $20.2 Million
核心洞察
A Delaware federal jury found Amgen and its subsidiary Teneobio (搜索) willfully infringed Harbour BioMed (搜索)'s antibody discovery platform patent, awarding the full $20.2 million in damages sought.
The willful infringement finding allows Harbour to petition for treble damages, potentially increasing the total award to up to $60.6 million.
Harbour BioMed (搜索) will continue enforcing its broader patent portfolio, with another patent carrying financial implications potentially ten times greater than the current award.
A federal jury in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware has returned a decisive verdict in favor of Harbour BioMed (搜索) in its patent infringement lawsuit against Amgen Inc. and its subsidiary Teneobio (搜索), Inc., awarding the full $20,203,704 in damages sought and finding that the infringement was willful. The verdict, announced June 14, 2026, represents a complete victory for Harbour BioMed and carries significant implications for the global antibody patent landscape.
The case, originally filed in 2021 by Harbour Antibodies (搜索) — a Dutch subsidiary of Harbour BioMed (搜索) — asserted that Amgen and Teneobio (搜索) infringed patents protecting the company's proprietary antibody discovery platform, an invention made by Professor Frank Grosveld, a founder of Harbour Antibodies. The dispute has drawn substantial industry attention since its inception, recognized as one of the most influential intellectual property conflicts in the global antibody technology field.
Jury Deliberates Just Three Hours Before Unanimous Verdict
After several years of litigation, the case proceeded to jury trial beginning June 8, 2026. Following the presentation of evidence and closing arguments, the jury deliberated for just three hours before returning a unanimous verdict in Harbour's favor on all counts: Amgen infringed the Grosveld Patent, the infringement was willful, the Grosveld Patent is valid, and Harbour is entitled to the full $20,203,704 in damages.
The findings of willful infringement also entitle Harbour BioMed (搜索) to petition the judge to treble the award, potentially increasing the total to up to $60.6 million. This outcome is particularly notable in the District of Delaware, where large jury awards in complex patent cases are relatively uncommon.
"This is an epic victory for Harbour BioMed (搜索), reaffirming the company as the true innovator behind this transformative technology," said Dr. Jingsong Wang, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Harbour BioMed. "The jury's finding of willful infringement sends a clear message that scientific innovation must be respected, regardless of the size of the company behind it."
Strategic Litigation Pivot Proves Effective
Prior to trial, Harbour BioMed (搜索) adapted its litigation strategy in response to a court ruling, adopting a focused two-pronged approach: aggressively pursuing the case on one patent at trial while simultaneously preparing to appeal the court's ruling on another patent to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. This strategy allowed the company to maintain momentum in securing patent protection while preserving the opportunity to enforce broader claims.
The patent at trial, U.S. Patent No. 10,906,970, relates to Harbour's transgenic rodent technology underlying its Harbour Mice® platform. Harbour's lawsuit had claimed that Teneobio (搜索)'s UniRat discovery platform was "modeled after" Harbour Mice, which can produce heavy chain-only antibodies — constructs smaller in size than traditional antibodies and more suitable for designing bispecific or multi-specific antibodies capable of binding epitopes that conventional monoclonal antibodies cannot access.
According to the original December 2021 complaint, Harbour first reached out to Teneobio (搜索) management in 2017 to discuss potential licensing terms, but this outreach was rejected. Amgen subsequently acquired Teneobio for $900 million upfront with up to $1.6 billion in milestone payments.
In a statement to Fierce Biotech, an Amgen spokesperson said the company will pursue "certain important legal issues with the court in post-trial proceedings."
Broader Patent Portfolio Enforcement Ahead
Looking ahead, Harbour BioMed (搜索) indicated it will continue to enforce its broader patent portfolio, with a focus on another patent carrying substantially greater financial implications — potentially representing up to ten times the damages awarded in this case. The company remains committed to protecting its intellectual property on multiple fronts.
Dr. Wang characterized the outcome as "a textbook victory in the patent battle" that "will also mark a new chapter for the global antibody patent landscape," emphasizing the company's "resilience, strategic discipline, and unwavering commitment to ensuring that groundbreaking scientific contributions are recognized, respected, and fairly compensated."
The Teneobio (搜索) acquisition has faced other challenges for Amgen. In 2023, the company took a $650 million impairment charge tied to the termination of AMG 340 (TNB-585), a PSMAxCD3 bispecific that was the lead candidate from the Teneobio portfolio. Amgen is instead advancing xaluritamig, a potential first-in-class STEAP1-directed bispecific T-cell engager, with two phase 3 trials now underway in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.