INDUSTRIES, LIFE SCIENCES | EPO Board of Appeal on patentability of a cell therapy process

On 24 January 2024, the EPO Board of Appeal (“BoA”) issued a decision on case T 1259/22, revoking a patent claiming a therapeutic method based on cell therapy using the active principle “Plerixafor”. Specifically, the EPO revoked the patent for lack of novelty in that the active principle Plerixafor had already been disclosed as a treatment for HIV. Furthermore, the claimed therapeutic method could not qualify as a medical step, since said active principle did not have any role within the medical steps of the multi-step treatment claimed by the patent.

Newsletter n. 99 – August/September 2024