United States-based Biogen has received an intellectual property ruling over its multiple sclerosis drug candidate, Tecfidera, it was reported yesterday.

This follows a favourable decision from the US Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

The patent case against Biogen for Tecfidera was filed last year by Coalition for Affordable Drugs led by hedge fund manager, Kyle Bass. Following the patent board's ruling, the company will be in a position to ensure that Tecfidera will not have any competition from generic versions of the drug for four to five years, Reuters has reported, citing Muzuho analyst, Salim Syed. The verdict on Tecfidera's intellectual property rights in the US comes two months after Biogen agreed to resolve a separate patent dispute with Forward Pharma over the same drug. For this, Biogen agreed to pay USD1.25bn in a settlement and license agreement with the Danish biotech company.

Biogen will also pay royalties on the net sales of its multiple sclerosis drugs that use dimethyl fumarate as an active ingredient and are covered by a patent held by Forward Pharma.