On the 12th, Alteogen plunged more than 4% intraday. The drop came after Halozyme filed a petition to invalidate Alteogen's manufacturing process patent.
As of 10:23 a.m. on the 12th, Alteogen was transaction at 435,000 won on the KOSDAQ market, down 18,500 won (4.08%) from the previous session.
Alteogen said on the 12th that "Halozyme has filed an inter partes review (IPR) with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) under the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office over the company's patent related to its hyaluronidase manufacturing method." IPR is a system that argues a patent is invalid on the grounds that it can be sufficiently explained by prior art.
However, the patent at issue this time concerns the process of culturing and producing the hyaluronidase enzyme and is separate from the substance patent that protects Alteogen's proprietary subcutaneous injection conversion technology "ALT-B4" itself.
Halozyme argues the Alteogen patent is merely a simple combination of existing technologies and is hard to view as a new invention, and is seeking invalidation. It says the process of lowering cell culture temperatures to increase protein productivity is an already known concept.
An Alteogen official said, "We were already aware of the contents of the patent that Halozyme claims is prior art and have completed our analysis," adding, "While we cannot disclose specific strategies, we have prepared response measures and are strongly confident in the patent's validity."
Meanwhile, Alteogen is a company that owns the platform technology Hybrozyme for converting antibody therapeutics in intravenous (IV) formulation to subcutaneous (SC) formulation. Halozyme has long monopolized this market through its proprietary SC formulation technology Enhanze. Halozyme is currently engaged in a patent dispute with Alteogen and Merck (MSD).