Ariad v. Lilly

Ariad v. Lilly is a United States court case in which Eli Lilly was found to have infringed held by Ariad Pharmaceuticals (licensed from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard, and the Whitehead Institute). On May 4, 2006 Lilly was ordered to pay ~$65 million in back royalties, and 2.3% royalties on future sales of the drugs Evista and Xigris which inhibit NF-kB.

The case is controversial because the scope of Ariad's patent's claims is viewed by some as going far beyond what is enabled in the patent. NF-kB regulates over 300 genes, and NF-kB-controlled pathways are relevant to many human diseases. As many as 200 marketed drugs have mechanisms of action that may affect the NF-kB pathway.