Dr. Ryan Sullivan of Intensity provided trial testimony on behalf of Juno Therapeutics and Sloan Kettering in patent litigation involving cancer immunotherapy. Based upon the testimony of Dr. Sullivan, the jury awarded damages of $752 million.
Intensity worked with Irell & Manella and Jones Day on behalf of Juno Therapeutics and Sloan Kettering in patent litigation involving cancer immunotherapy. Juno and Sloan Kettering claimed that Kite Pharma, a subsidiary of Gilead Sciences, infringed their patent. The technology at issue involves genetically engineering T-cells to fight cancer, which is known as CAR-T therapy. Kite launched their CAR-T therapy Yescarta in late 2017.
During its work, Intensity conducted economic analysis and provided trial testimony to determine reasonable royalties for the alleged infringement by Kite. This included an assessment of the economic contribution of the patented technology to Kite’s allegedly infringing product, availability of potential non-infringing alternatives, stage of development of licensed technology, competitive relationship between Juno and Kite, financial harms and benefits from use of the patented technology by Kite, and market analysis of related license agreements. As part of its work, Intensity evaluated all fifteen of the Georgia-Pacific factors.
Dr. Ryan Sullivan, President of Intensity, submitted an expert report and provided expert testimony at deposition and trial. After an eight-day trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Juno and Sloan Kettering with a damages award that precisely matches the trial testimony of Dr. Sullivan. The damages award consists of an upfront payment of $585 million and a running royalty rate of 27.6% on net sales of Kite’s Yescarta product. The resulting damages award is $752 million, which does not include potential future running royalties.