By Natali Goginashvili at Associate, HOYNG ROKH MONEGIER, Paris Background The applicant, Halozyme Inc, specializes in drug delivery technologies for emerging and established therapies. Its core technology ENHANZE® is based on recombinant human hyaluronidase ("rHuPH20"), which is a drug delivery enzyme that locally breaks down human hyaluronic acid, and when co-formulated with other drugs, facilitates their subcutaneous delivery after injection. Halozyme has partnered for ENHANZE® with multiple pharmaceutical companies, including Roche who markets a combination of trastuzumab and rHuPH20 branded as Herceptin®. Trastuzumab is a known active ingredient, which is a monoclonal antibody widely used in the treatment of breast...

Marc Névant (French and European Patent Attorney) In a decision dated 31 January 2024 (appeal n° B 22-18.374), the French Supreme Court (Cour de Cassation) dismissed an appeal filed by the French Patent Office (INPI) against the decision of the Paris Court of Appeal (RG n° 21/08514 of 25 May 2022) annulling INPI’s decision to reject SPC application n° 17C1046. In their decision, the Cour de Cassation held the following: 1/ The Court of Appeal did not confine itself to ruling by way of assertion but noted that EP 424 referred to methods for the generation and identification of an antibody directed against a given...